The Resurgence
by Sons of Plunder
Summary: Many years have passed since the group saved Weyard. Now the newly restored world is in grave danger once again, and two new kids are added to the saviors.
1. The Beginning

"So much shit going on it's getting hard to keep up..." Tsiriu said to himself, sitting on a stump deep in the woods behind his school. He had his acoustic guitar in his hand, and was going through a song he had written for someone special to him that had died recently, trying to save his life. "Why? Why'd you do that? You could have followed me down to the ground!" he yelled, talking to himself as he played.

Karrah was walking on her way back home from school, practically skipping with joy, finals were over and she was completely free from now on, albeit she was only fifteen and still a freshman, she was glad to have passed the year quite successfully. She had her iPod out and was listening to System of a Down when her iPod slipped out of her hand, and fell. The weight of the player was too much for the pressure put on the plug of her headphones and it popped out. The music stopped.

She heard a little ways away a person playing a guitar, after a moment or two she heard a voice coming from the general direction of the guitar playing yell 'Why? Why'd you do that? You could have followed me down to the ground!' then she heard the music stop and the sound of footsteps walking away.

"Spying huh? That's not too nice. You never know who's a better spy then you." a voice came from the trees above.

Karrah jumped, she hadn't heard the person come up behind her she turned tentatively around and...

"Look up."

She did so, and jumped slightly when she did "What're you doing so far in the woods?" Tsiriu said after jumping off the branch, leaving his guitar in the tree.

"I-I was just walking home, it was a sunny day so i decided to walk home the long way, and i was listening to my iPod when i dropped it and heard somebody playing a guitar"

"Alright. What did you hear?" Tsiriu said.

"I heard only a few moments of it, some guitar playing that'd take me another year to get close to being that good, and since I'm assuming that's your guitar up there and you were just playing, you yell something about somebody not going to the ground with you" she replied a little warily

"Shit..." Tsiriu said, looking down. "I'll make you a deal kid. You keep quiet about this entire meeting and I'll give you lessons. Sound good?" he added, looking her in the eyes.

She stared at him shocked, she'd wanted guitar lessons for so long but her parents had never bothered to spend the money to get them, "For guitar lessons? Of course. But one condition, don't call me kid, i can't be more than a few months younger than you" she answered back with the sort of tone she used when she was arguing with her parents.

"Then whaddya want me to call you? And quit the parent argument tone." Tsiriu queried

"First of all, my name's Karrah, Karrah Serian, yours?" she asked of him meanwhile sticking the pick she always carried in her pocket into her mouth and chewed on the tip

"Tsiriu. That's all I remember. Lived alone for longer then I can remember. Now, before we begin, I need to see if you'll understand the lessons I give you. I'm gonna play that song you heard and I'm gonna ask you what you heard in it afterwards. Understand?" Tsiriu stated, getting his guitar.

"Yeah," she replied, wondering how they were going to have lessons without her having a guitar, she shrugged inwardly and watched as Tsiriu climbed and jumped cat-like up the tree to where his guitar rested peacefully between two branches

"Not bad climbing Karrah. Here's the song." Tsiriu said, closing his eyes. He began playing what would have sounded like a happier song, but to one's who played, knew otherwise. The song was, in truth, one of the most sorrowful ever written. Even though it was an instrumental, it was like Tsiriu was singing through the guitar. His mind blanked out, the memories playing back in his head. A single tear fell from his eye, the song now sounding sorrowful. Lasting for thirteen long minutes, Tsiriu opened his eyes. "The question is, what emotion did you hear thirty seconds in?" Tsiriu asked, his face dark.

"I heard..." she paused for a moment as she thought. "I heard happiness, but in that happiness there seemed a knowledge that it was too good to last very long, and then..." she couldn't finish as she noticed the true sorrow in Tsiriu's eyes and she stood transfixed, just as she had done when he was playing.

"Well Karrah?" Tsiriu said, his voice deeper then it was before, taking his normal tone for when he talked to those he didn't trust.

"Um..." she started, wondering what he meant

"Is that all, just happiness?" he clarified, loosing hope in her.

"Hell no," she replied indignantly, "you said the thirty seconds in, nowhere past that."

Tsiriu sighs.

"There was so much sorrow in that, that was one of the saddest songs I've ever played, it seemed happy in the beginning. But then, after that thirty seconds, it all got really dark and sad, did you write that song?"

"Yes, I did write that song. And I'll give you lessons. I haven't seen someone with as much promise as you since her..." Tsiriu's voice trails off. "That song was called The Heart's Flame. It took me an hour to write it. It was the only song I've ever written without a guitar in my hands. Not many musicians can even write that much and be satisfied with it. Alright, your lessons start tomorrow. Meet me here at this time and I'll show you where you will get your lessons. Perhaps we could be friends?" Tsiriu said, pushing the memories back.

"Friends?" Karrah tried to remember what it was like having friends. Ever since she got her guitar, she'd gotten more and more interested in music and playing than in her social life, but then the memories came flooding back, and biting down hard for a second on the guitar pick, she finally spoke. "Yeah sure, it's been a while since I have had a friend,"

"Really? Good, it's my first time I've come to trust people after ten longs years. This should work out well then. We can relearn together." Tsiriu said.

"Heh, yeah, there's one way of putting it," she replied laughing slightly

"Alright, it's getting late. Your parents are probly worried Karrah. Get home." Tsiriu said, sitting back down on the stump.

"What about you?" she asked suddenly curious about her new found 'friend' "Why aren't you at home?"

"I, I am. My home is a little deeper into the woods." Tsiriu said hesitantly.

She looked at him inquiringly. "Hey, look, if you need a place to stay, I'd be more than happy to let you stay at my place, our house is too big for me, my parents, and my little brother anyway" she said hoping to gain some trust with him

"Don't worry Karrah. I've lived on my own like this for as longer then I remember. I built it myself, rebuilding it when my skills had improved enough to make it noticeably more comfortable. I've got everything I need. I've even rigged up the nearby river for power. I'm living quite comfortably, almost like I'm living in a dorm. I'd like to visit though, if that's alright. I'll show you my home tomorrow before your first lesson. Sound good?" Tsiriu said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She tensed very, very slightly, when he touched her shoulder. She hadn't remembered what it had been like to have somebody care like that; her parents were always too busy and her little brother didn't like her much anyway. "Sounds perfect. By the way, my parents won't be home, at least, not for another two hours or so, so I'll cook dinner, don't worry, I'm not like a bad cook or anything." she replied happily

"Ok. Forgive me if I seem a little nervous, I'm not exactly the trusting type. I'm nervous about simply trusting you enough with showing you where I live. So if I seem a little untrusting, don't be alarmed, ok Karrah?" Tsiriu queried. Noticing her shudder, he withdrew his hand quickly. He didn't even know why he did that, he just, did.

"Okay, I know what your saying, I've done the same thing, I just suddenly stopped caring whether I was hurt or not, I just became numb to it i guess," she said starting to walk towards her home, plugging her iPod in she extended an earphone towards Tsiriu "wanna listen? Its system of a down,"

"Sure, but plug these earphones in. I've played with them a bit, making them like speakers if you flip this switch."

Tsiriu flipped the switch, and the music started coming out like a large speaker.

Karrah got really wide-eyed and she felt a slight burst of excitement come out. "Oh my god, that's awesome!" she exclaimed and without meaning to, without even thinking about it, she jumped towards Tsiriu and hugged him

Tsiriu's arms flew around Karrah from the impact, and they just stayed there, like they wanted to. Blushing slightly, Tsiriu gently pushed her away, looking away himself.

Karrah blushed furiously and looked away, thinking all the while to herself _why did you do that? IDIOT! _"Sorry," she said while her face burned, she turned back to turn up the music but she found that he was smiling at her, and she continued to blush.

"It, it's alright. Don't call yourself an idiot Karrah. I didn't exactly stop you after all. Come on; let's get going to your place." Tsiriu said quietly, his voice almost at a whisper. Anyone could tell he hadn't done things like that too much.

"Okay" she said still feeling like a fool then her favorite song came on, and she started to hum the lyrics to herself, slightly forgetting that she was in different company.

Tsiriu started outright singing, albeit quietly. He took out his guitar and put the strap on it. Playing along to the song, he began to sing a little bit louder. He was great with the guitar, but he was just as bad at singing as he was good at the guitar. For the first time in a long, long time, he was actually having fun. His life was pretty much about survival, getting food and harvesting water, treating it, making the generator better, sparring with the gang groups that came his way, weight training at the local gym, stuff like that. All the while though, his heart and mind ached. His mind because of the knowledge he had acquired through his life, most of which people his age should not know about for another few decades. They rounded a corner when he decided, cautiously, to let his subconscious take over just a tiny bit, and his hand crept up to Karrah's slowly, grasping it so gently she didn't realize it. In her head, he could see them both on that very road; only their hands were openly clasped. The music was playing a bit louder as well.

Tsiriu: Well, this is my first 2-author project, not sure about Lifelessness. I think it's turned out well so far, whaddya you guys think? If you want to see more of my writing, here's the link:

Tsiriu's Profile

Savinglifelessness: Here's my profile too!

Lifelessness' Profile

Both: Btw, when we answer reviews, Tsiriu will be T and Lifelessness will be L, just to cut down space and typing time.


	2. Battle Rage

The two, now friends, walked down the quickly darkening street. A cold chill enveloped the night air as the silvery moon rose over the horizon.

Karrah felt Tsiriu's hand creeping into hers, and oddly enough, she didn't mind it. The thing that really shocked her was that her thoughts were constantly drifting back to the hug they had shared earlier. She felt like she was missing it, she wanted to hug him so badly, but she thought he hadn't liked it.

Sensing her thoughts, and seeing her pensive expression, Tsiriu stopped her and turned her to face him. Looking into her eyes, he finally spoke. "Karrah, about, about the hug. I, uh, I only pushed away, because I was, wow I'm not good at this. I was, nervous. Please understand, I've been without any kind of family or friends for a very long time. I'm not gonna force you to do anything, just so you know." Tsiriu said hesitantly. His cheeks grew a slight reddish tint, betraying his attempts at keeping eye contact.

Karrah felt her emotions soar. A huge smile lit up on her face and she, once again, jumped into his arms. While tugging him, she whispered into his ear. "It's okay, to be honest, I've never had a boyfriend so I'm sort of nervous too."

"I haven't either. Uh, I've never had a girlfriend I mean." Tsiriu said nervously. He gently pulled her closer to him, hardly noticing he was. _She smells, nice. This is, weird. I've never felt like this before. This is, kinda nice though. _Tsiriu thought, blushing greatly. He pushed her away gently and slowly. "I can't walk when I'm being hugged like that Karrah. Come on; let's wait until we're at your place. You look cold. Here." he said, taking off his coat. He draped it around her and held her close to his side as they walked, his guitar now on his back.

"Wait until my place for what?" Karrah asked Tsiriu with a wink, when she saw him blush further she patted his shoulder and said "I'm only joking Tsiriu, gosh I'm not a slut or anything," She giggled. She sort of snuggled into Tsiriu's coat a little further and pulled it around her, she shivered slightly but, trying not to let Tsiriu notice she smiled up at him. _Wait,_ _why is it so cold? It's nearly summer, it shouldn't be this cold, oh well whatever. _She thought shrugging that odd feeling off. Running her fingers along the soft lining of his jacket, she suddenly noticed that it was very warm, and very soft. Putting one hand through the sleeve and using the other to hold the jacket closed, she lightly grasped Tsiriu's hand that was draped over her shoulder.

"Hold up Karrah." Tsiriu said, his eyes half closed. His grip on her shoulder strengthened slightly as his eyes changed color. From the bright blue that was their norm, they slid smoothly towards black, going to red first. "Can you fight? We're gonna have company soon. Not friendly company either." he added, taking a few knives out of his guitar case.

"Um..." Karrah started, she had never really been in a fight but she couldn't sit there and let Tsiriu do all the fighting so she grabbed a largish knife out of Tsiriu's hand and dropped into a crouch.

"No, get behind me Karrah. Your stance, you won't be able to fight these guys. Unless you can use Psynergy get behind me now." He said, putting the knives into small, easy to reach pockets in his shirt and pants. He grabbed a longer one out of his guitar case. It looked much like a miniature katana. Dark blue rings surrounded him as he closed his eyes. The mini-katana glowed black as it grew to the size of a real katana. "I'll take care of this. It's my fight anyway. I've been waiting for these sick freaks. I wondered why it was so cold." He finished, taking a battle stance where the blade rested on the side of his elbow.

Wide-eyed and slightly frightened, Karrah back away until her back was to a tree, wondering all the while what had just happened to the Tsiriu she had just been walking through the woods with.

"Karrah, you're my only friend, and, for some reason I don't know, I feel like you're a better friend then I've ever had. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise." Tsiriu said as he turned around to look into her frightened eyes. His, once again, bright blue eyes looked deeply into hers. In one swift motion, he quickly kissed her on the cheek, muttered some strange words while tracing a strange shape on her forearm, and turned around to meet his strange adversaries.

"Well well well, what do we have here."

"Hey, it's that Tsiriu kid!"

"Let's get him!"

"You think you can kill me now, after I whooped you all the last time? Big mistake boys, or whatever you three are." Tsiriu said, his eyes dark and angry. The three strangers all wore very little. No shirt for any of them, and strange, glacier blue pants. Their breath came out as pure cloud, and their touch just as icy.

Karrah backed up against the tree even further, her mind not even registering the kiss Tsiriu had planted on her cheek, she watched as the three enemies tried to surround Tsiriu, only to have ones leg get sliced off by Tsiriu's sword, but to her amazement, it grew back. Then suddenly an icy hand grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth, she tried to scream but she couldn't, paralyzed with fear she felt a knife against her neck.

"KARRAH!" Tsiriu yelled as he finished one foe with a stab and twist in the stomach. Without even consciously knowing the other one was behind him, he stabbed backwards and fell deep inside himself. Summoning up every tiny piece of anger, hatred, and pain he had ever felt in his life, he formed a small, pure black ball in his hands. When he opened his eyes, they too, were pure black. The difference: they had flame burning bright in the center. The dark ball disappeared with a huge explosion, completely disintegrating the dagger, and the entire arm it was connected to.

"YOU WILL NOT HARM HER!" Tsiriu screamed as his sword twisted into a scimitar, the jewel on the hilt pulsing with dark anger. With a step forward and right, and a flick of the wrist, the head of the attacker came clean off. Rushing forward, he pulled Karrah into his arms, his katana returning to it's small form and floating into his pocket. Running faster then normally possible, especially with someone in his arms, he put as much distance between them and their assailants and her possibly could. They had arrived at Karrah's house. Laying her down on the couch, his eyes quickly returned to the bright blue, and then, to eyelids as Tsiriu passed out from over-exertion.

Karrah watched Tsiriu pass out, not knowing what to do she tentatively got up, Tsiriu had scared her, that sudden change in him was terrifying, after crying for a few minutes she realized how hungry she was, getting a blanket and wrapping the still unconscious figure of Tsiriu she bustled about the kitchen making dinner.


	3. Karrah's Place

Turning down the stove so as to let the food cook slower Karrah decided to go in and check on Tsiriu, she had been checking on him periodically every 10 minutes or so. When she walked in this time, he was awake; kneeling next to him she shook him slightly to wake him up more then said "Tsiriu, you owe me an explanation,"

"Please don't shake me, everything's spinning enough... I know, Karrah. I'm sorry if I scared you. When I saw you, with that knife at your neck, I thought, I thought I'd lose you. It would take so long to tell you about what happened to me, why, and what it does. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful right now, it hurts to think at all..." Tsiriu's voice trailed off, his hand on his head. "I feel like I got hit by an eighteen wheeler. It's been so long I've forgotten the side effects..."

"Side effects? Side effects of what? And what's Psynergy?" Karrah demanded somewhat rudely, remembering her manners she apologized and hearing a timer go off, she wrapped Tsiriu tighter in the blankets and went back to the kitchen to tend to the food all the while wondering what the hell had just happened.

"Karrah? Can I see if you have the things I need to get rid of this damning headache?" Tsiriu called, gripping his head tighter. He tried standing up again, and found that, if he used things around him for support, he could get around the house easily. Taking his first look at his surroundings, Tsiriu noticed that he was in a nice, cozy house, probably Karrah's. The fireplace was lit; it's warm flames giving his body energy.

"Yeah," she called from the kitchen "wait, I'll get it, you lay down," Tsiriu heard her steps fade from the kitchen to the bathroom down the hall and then back "here," she muttered, handing him a bottle of Advil "this should help, take two, and then come into the kitchen, dinner's almost ready,"

"Sorry Karrah, but this isn't what I mean. I need to gather the ingredients and prepare them. Judging by your questions earlier you can't use Psynergy yet. I can tell you could, with someone teaching you of course. We'll start off with lessons on that instead of guitar. The things I need will sound strange. I need sea salt, seasoned salt meant for broiled steak, parsley, garlic powder, and the black vial out of my guitar case. I'll get the powders, could you get the vial for me? Just do not open it. The fumes could kill a T-rex." Tsiriu said, hobbling over to the kitchen. He searched the cabinets for the ingredients he needed, and took a small bowl out of the nearby strainer.

Staring dumbfounded at the Advil bottle that had saved her from so many headaches "but..." she trailed off, and throwing the bottle on the ground she walked to his guitar case and opened it, pulling the guitar out she sifted through the many knives and weapons he had in there, reaching the bottom of the seemingly bottomless case she found the black vial, grabbing it, she went back into the kitchen to find him mixing the other ingredients in the bowl.

"Thank you so much Karrah. I promise, once I have taken this little concoction of mine, I'll answer every question I can. I need you to block your nose tightly and keep your mouth closed tight. Let no air into your lungs. It would take quite a bit to kill, but I don't want you getting sick when it is avoidable." Tsiriu said, putting a clothes hanger on his nose.

Wondering what the hell was happening again, Karrah obediently took a deep breath, plugged her nose, and put the cover on the food so it wouldn't get ruined, her dad would get pissed off beyond all relief if that happened 'then again' she thought 'he always does anyway'

Tsiriu unplugged the vial and a black smoke slowly rose out. Putting the vial down, he placed his hands in the strange smoke. The lights in the room began to dim, almost like there was less power getting to them. Even the moonlight began to dim. Eyes closed in concentration, which wasn't easy giving his current condition; he manipulated the dark smoke into the bowl of powders, creating a black and violet liquid, totally different then the ingredients. All of the smoke was used up, and Tsiriu took the clothes hanger off of his nose. "You can breathe now Karrah," he said, taking a long sip of the liquid. His face twisted in the miserable taste, but his headache was gone in seconds.

Staring at Tsiriu in wonderment she took the lid off the food, "hungry?" she asked peering at the remains of the black liquid Tsiriu had just drunk

"I was wondering what I smelled. Now that I can actually think and place smells, it smells great Karrah. I recommend you leave that liquid be. I don't know what it will do to those who don't use Dark Psynergy. Wouldn't want to test it." Tsiriu said, washing out the vial. He poured the remains of the serum into the newly washed vial. "It's really hard making this stuff after one of those. Might want to save the leftovers. Anyway, I'd like to answer your questions before your parents get home. They're probly gonna ask questions of their own, and more if they hear about this stuff." Tsiriu said, taking a sip of the stew Karrah made. "OW OW OW! Hot hot hot hot hot!"

Laughing Karrah shook her head and handed Tsiriu a coke "duh, of course its hot, its been on the stove for almost an hour."

"An hour of which I've been out cold. Anyway, you wanted to know what Psynergy is. Psynergy is an area of a very little known science called Alchemy. Psynergy is the alchemy used in combat and healing, as well as moving or lifting object or people. I came about this really old book while I was rigging up the wires for my generator. I've just about finished it if you want to borrow it. Those people who can use Psynergy are called Adepts, and those who study Alchemy are called alchemists or sages. Alchemy works much like chemistry, and knowledge in chemistry certainly helps in understanding the thousands of laws and alchemic properties needed to really be a sage. Any other questions Karrah?" Tsiriu explained, blowing on the stew before taking another sip.

"Yeah, first off I do want that book, I'm confused as hell, secondly, what happened back there?"

"I'm not sure what to call it. It's kinda like the fury someone gets when they are near death trying to protect someone that they love. You see, you barely use ten percent of the muscle strength you possess. Those rages of mine bring that up to around thirty. Any higher and you risk breaking your bones, severing tendons, and tearing significant amounts of muscle just trying to move. It also speeds the nervous system up a great deal, making things such as punches and arrows seem to move slowly, enabling the enraged person to dodge or block easily. Normally I can control those battle rages, but when I saw you with the knife against your throat, it just, came. The moon seemed to glow with blood, and I imagined the guy continuing his attack, the blood flowing freely, your screams cutting through my ears..." Tsiriu's voice quieted, now barely a whisper. "Your pained screams cutting through my ears, turning into gurgles of blood. I just couldn't take it, and all the anger and hatred that's built up just exploded. That's all I know about that."

Karrah nodded her head, remembering how the knife felt against her throat, how her heart had constricted, how her fear of never seeing Tsiriu had scared her, and suddenly her emotions welled up and exploded. Bursting into tears she dove forward and hugged Tsiriu, burying her face into his chest she cried.

"Shhh. It's alright Karrah. I'm here aren't I? I promise, I will never let those guys harm you again. I couldn't bear to lose my only friend, especially after what happened almost ten years ago. But that is something for another time perhaps. Karrah, please, stop crying. Everything's okay now." Tsiriu whispered in a warm, comforting tone as he wrapped her protectively in his arms. Holding her close, he gave her a small, loving kiss on the cheek.

Karrah hugged Tsiriu tighter when he kissed her on the cheek, her crying had died down to quiet sobbing, still she hugged him, sort of curling up in Tsiriu's lap she looked up and kissed him on the cheek

"Karrah, a car's pulling in." Tsiriu said, pulling his guitar case closer to his chair. "As little as I'd like to make this stop, I don't think your folks would like seeing this too much."

"I know, here, come with me," getting up and wiping her eyes, she grabbed Tsiriu's hand and pulled him towards the stairs, bringing him down the hall she pushed him into her room, "stay here," she commanded, pointing at the floor. Hugging him quickly she ran back downstairs and poured her parents and little brother a bowl of stew.

Hearing the door open Karrah grabbed some spoons, set the bowls and spoons on the table and went in the garage to grab the drinks, a beer for her dad, diet Pepsi for her mom, and a coke for her little brother.

"Alright. I need to find new ways of calming people down." Tsiriu whispered to himself. He sat down on Karrah's bed, looking around. Bright red, almost pink, wallpaper adorned the walls. A decent sized pile of stuffed animals lay forgotten in the corner. On the walls near her bed hung posters of many different famous guitar players. Randy Rhoads was the one that came up most often. On the nightstand next to the bed there was a book of guitar tablature, a lamp, and a guitar-shaped alarm clock/radio. _'Wow, she really gave her life to guitar huh?'_ Tsiriu thought, looking around some more. He found the obvious things while looking around the room from his seat on her bed. A closet filled with clothes, a TV, a stereo, and speakers. What would have surprised him to see if he didn't see the posters and guitar tab book, was an amp about the size of his, and an electric guitar leaning against Karrah's dresser. An acoustic guitar lay in its case next to it.

Meanwhile downstairs Karrah was sitting on the counter while her parents and her little brother ate. Staring at the spot in the ceiling where her room was, she wondered what Tsiriu was doing up there, was no noise no sounds of a guitar playing or anything like that, so feeling content that no awkward noises were to be made from her room she settled back on the counter and let her thoughts wander about what had happened that day. She was just getting to the part when she had grabbed the knife out of her hand when her dad's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Karrah, get me another beer," her father said turning back to the stew. Karrah walked into the garage and grabbed a few more beers, her dad always drank more than he asked for, and it was easier and better to just grab them all at once. Coming back in she set one down on the table in front of him and put the other few in the fridge. When her brother started whining that his stew was cold she calmly took his bowl, put it on the microwave, and nuked it for a few seconds, her brother had fits like these every night and her parents continually ignored them. When her dad asked for another beer, she grabbed that and her brothers bowl and set them both before the two men. After her dad had downed that beer she grabbed the last two and handed them to him, after he had one more in him, she started walking upstairs hoping to avoid…

"And where are you going?" came her dads voice behind her, wincing she turned around and faced him, "I was only going up to my room to play my guitar," she replied trying to sound neutral. "Did you do all of your homework?" he asked slurring his words slightly, smiling she nodded and replied with "Dad, I don't have homework anymore, we just finished finals, I have no more homework until next year."

"Don't look at me like that young lady," her dad said getting a little angry, still smiling Karrah shook her head slightly and said "I'm gonna go up to my room dad, yell if you need anything," and as she started to turn around she heard the chair her dad sat in clatter to the floor, walking towards her menacingly he raised his hand. Karrah backed away frightened, raising her hand to protect her face, and as she did, her hand brushed his shoulder, next thing she knew there was a sudden stinging impact on the side of her face and she fell backwards a few feet. Running a hand down her cheek she felt a slight lump where her dads fist had connected with her face, exercising her jaw a bit to see if it still worked she got up and faced her dad, backing away again.

"Don't you back away from me," her dad slurred staggering towards her, he raised his hand and struck again, this time Karrah let out a small scream, when she got up she turned around and started to run away, her dad grabbed her shirt and it ripped off, breaking free Karrah ran upstairs and ran into her room, slamming the door behind her she locked it and forgetting who was in there she jumped when she heard

"Karrah, what the hell happened to you?"

"Karrah? I heard yelling, what's going on?" Tsiriu said, pulling her close. Hearing heavy footsteps in the hall, he quickly but gently pushed her away and slid under the bed. _I smell alcohol..._

Making sure that Tsiriu was completely hidden Karrah bolted the door (ooc: yes she has a dead-bolt on her door) and threw on a tank top. Wiping her tears, she gently crawled onto her bed so as not to crush Tsiriu and curled up in a ball. When she heard her dad pounding on the door she started crying again and after about 10 minutes of punching the door trying to get in, he left. Pulling a blanket around her shoulders Karrah sat there and just simply bawled.

"Shhh, it's alright. He went away. I'm here for you, and I always will be. We need to think of something to do about this. If he ever does this again, don't hesitate to bolt out that door and come see me. I'll protect you from anything I can, and if I can't, I'll delay them as long as I can so you can get away. I promise Karrah. Oh crap! My guitar case! He'll know I'm here!" Tsiriu said, moving his fingers in a strange gesture. His guitar case appeared next to the bed with a barely heard pop. Someone knocked on the door gently, almost afraid to. "Don't worry, it's not your dad. I can't smell any alcohol. Should I open it?"

"I-I will," she replied shakily "go hide or something, i don't think now is a good time to let them know you're here." Tentatively Karrah got up and walked towards the door, opening it a crack she saw her little brother, holding a bowl of the stew she had made and a coke in one hand. "Here," he said seeming to hate every second of this "mom told me to give this to you, now take it," giving her a look that said simply 'take it so i can go' she took it from him, carried it inside onto her desk, thanked him, and right before she closed the door an audible "whatever," could be heard. "Karrah, listen to me, if you want, I'll stay here for the night. They don't have to know. I'll make sure that they don't know. I'll also do my best to get your dad to leave you alone. Here, this will get rid of the pain and bruises. Hold still for one second." Tsiriu said, placing his hand on Karrah's cheek as gently as he could. Closing his eyes, he focused on the ruptured blood vessels, repairing them and moving the blood back into the veins. "There you go, good as new! Now, this is just something for if your dad tries to punch you again." he added, moving one hand's fingers in strange patterns, the other touching Karrah's temples lightly.

Feeling relaxed Karrah sort of slumped against Tsiriu, sobbing a little she wrapped her arms around him and curled up in his lap, it wasn't so much the physical pain that hurt her, it was more the pain of being hit like that, albeit it did happen somewhat often, she still felt horrible when it happened, hugging Tsiriu tighter she shivered slightly

Tsiriu took the blanket off of the bed and wrapped it around Karrah, pulling her closer as he rested his head gently on her shoulder. "I'm here Karrah, and as long as I'm here, your dad will not lay even a hair on you. I promise. Come on, everything will be okay. I promise. Tomorrow's Saturday, I can show you some of my favorite places to go to unwind. If you want to of course." Tsiriu said, hugging her tight.

"yeah..." Karrah whispered, "that would be nice..." snuggling closer to him in his lap she looked up at him

"Alright. Make sure you pack something to swim in, one of the places is a lake." Tsiriu said comfortingly. "Like I said, I'll stay here for the night if you want. I can make myself fit into impossible spaces very comfortably. Do you have a dollhouse or something like that?"

"heh, Tsiriu, that would be awesome if you spent the night, and no you are not sleeping in a dollhouse, whether you can fit or not, you can have my bed or something like that, okay?" she asked him climbing out of his lap

"A dollhouse would feel like a normal house, only the walls are plastic. At least, after I do a tiny bit of Alchemy. Here, I'll demonstrate on one of your stuffed animals." Tsiriu said, grabbing a discarded stuffed cat from the pile. Closing his eyes and moving his fingers across the toy, lines began to form in the air above it. The lines disappeared as he opened his eyes and exhaled harshly. The toy shrunk to the size of a doll! Speaking a totally indecipherable word, the toy resumed its normal size, like nothing had happened. "Tsiriu, you are no sleeping in a dollhouse, i don't even know if i have that's livable, so you, are sleeping, in here, not in a plastic house that my dad put his foot through, sleep in my bed or something, just not the dollhouse," she replied to him with a sort of firmness in his voice

"But then where would you sleep Karrah?" Tsiriu said, confused.

"there are places i can sleep, there is a floor in here you know," she argued back

Tsiriu smiled. "There's no way I'm letting you sleep on the floor. do you know how suspicious that would look if someone came in?" he said, almost laughing.

"me on the floor and you on the bed? if we were both in the bed then it would be," getting up, she walked over to Tsiriu and hugged him again, she didn't know why, she just felt like hugging him '_Is it just me? or do i really like this guy? i hardly know him and he just seems like i want to be with him.' _she thought to herself while he hugged her back "I'm not sure your parents would be too keen on seeing me in your room at all Karrah." Tsiriu said, placing his cheek against hers. _What is this feeling? So familiar, yet so foreign. This may take a while to figure out. _he thought, his chest becoming quite a bit warmer then normal. He could feel his heartbeat in every pressure point, and he could hear it pound in his ears. _What the hell is going on? It's kinda scary, but I don't want it to end! It's scary, but it's not. I don't get it! How can it be scary at_ _the same time? I'm gonna stop thinking about it before I get a headache!_

Swaying slightly Karrah started to lose balance, for nearly no reason at all. Leaning forward she sort of fell onto Tsiriu, who toppled over and she ended up laying on top of him. Blushing furiously she looked at Tsiriu questioningly

**"**Uh..." was all Tsiriu could get out of his mouth. He'd never been this nervous, or this confused. His cheeks grew so red it almost looked like he was slapped, but as far as the stunned effect he might as well have been! "U-uh, K-Karrah?" he managed to stutter. His heart began to race even faster, although the sound was lost. All he could hear was his breathing, as well as Karrah's. He could feel the heat rising into his face. The idea of pushing her off never even occurred to him. Hell, he didn't even know what was going on! All he could see was the girl he had just met, yet confined in so much, and risked his life to protect. He could hear only the breathing of the two in the room, and his own frantic thoughts.

_"Push her off!"_

"Leave her there!"

"This is kinda nice..."

"What the Hell's going on?"

"Karrah?"

"Uh.."

"What should I do?"

His thoughts raged on, fighting a war with too many sides for him to put up with. He was surprised he could think, his muscles, toned and strengthened beyond what was reasonable, were so weak all of a sudden! His heart beat so fast he could barely keep track. He recognized a new feeling: Karrah's body heat. Remembering what was happening, sort of, he looked into Karrah's eyes. Karrah looked back into his, she was having similar symptoms, she was wondering what the hell she should do, she liked this guy so much but she didn't want to seem like a whore. inwardly shrugging and really not caring she closed her eyes, keeping on open a crack. leaning in slightly she (you decide what Tsiriu should do)

Before she had the opportunity to kiss him, Tsiriu decided to act merely on instinct. His head raised up to meet hers, his lips brushing so gently it was more like a gentle summer breeze. His eyes closed, his arms crept around her back. The war in his mind had stopped, and so had all rational thought.

Feeling his lips touch hers, Karrah completely closed her eyes and pressed a little harder against his mouth, this was her first kiss, and she was glad it was him. Pulling her lips away, she turned her head to the side slightly and kissed him again, only more passionately.

Tsiriu's eyes began to water, his happiness_ Happiness? YES! That's what this is! It's been so long I've totally forgotten what hapiness was! But this girl, Karrah, with merely her presence, she's reminded me what happiness is! _flooded through his body, as well as rational thought to his mind. He realized that he didn't know what to do next. His mind passed over millions of possibilities, with still mountains more. His heart, however, singled out two: continue, or push her away and delay things. He decided upon the latter, so that he could sort out these strange new thoughts and feelings. There was, after all, two other feelings he had never felt before, but he was sure that he could discern their names. With great reluctance, he pushed her away for the third time that day. "Karrah, I'm sorry, but, I'm, I, I'm not sure I'm ready to go this far yet, this is really my first time, I'd forgotten what it meant to be happy. I'm so confused, I really am. I'm not sure I could describe it too." he said, trying not to hurt the innocent young woman laying on top of him.

Feeling Tsiriu push her away again she pulled back and looked at him in wonderment. When he explained why with an excuse of him needing to sort things out Karrah felt as if her heart had just been ripped in two, she felt her pain all over. Not letting it show she nodded and rolled off of him. looking at him she smiled and told him that she was going to take a shower. "if anyone knocks on the door, don't make a sound. I don't want them to know your here." after he nodded she got up and walked out of her bedroom trying to seem as if what he said hadn't phased in, but inside, her body was in turmoil, she felt as if somebody had tied her stomach in a knot, and had cut off the circulation to her brain, she wasn't even thinking about what she was doing until she found herself in the bathroom and taking off her shirt. turning the water on she finished undressing and got into the shower, not even needing or wanting to actually take a shower she sat down and leaned up against the wall and tried not to cry. she felt as if she had just been  
betrayed, she didn't know what the hell was going on and her emotions were getting the better of her thoughts, and she started to wonder if Tsiriu really even cared about her that way. unable to stop it, the tears started flowing, they mixed with the warm water coming from the shower head and soon she couldn't tell the difference. leaning up against the wall again she looked down at her feet, wondering what she should do. 'he probably doesn't even like me, i forced him into that kiss...'

'Maybe he does, he just isn't ready,'

'what if he's lying to me and just using me?'

'Tsiriu, whats going on, are you telling the truth or not?'

'What am i going to do?'

Her thoughts trailed off as a light knock came at the door, "Karrah?" came her little brother's voice, "you okay in there? you've been in there half an hour, get out, i wanna take my shower." "o-okay," came her shaky reply, getting up and shaking her head, she turned off the water and climbed out. looking at herself in the mirror she looked at her figure,

'ugh, what am i going to do? i like him so much...'

drying herself off, she pulled on her clothes and walked out, with a towel  
wrapped around her hair.

"Holy shit..." her brother breathed, "you've really been crying haven't you? did he hit you that hard Karrah?"

blinking her eyes to blot out that memory and a dozen more like it, she  
nodded slightly and went into her room, to find Tsiriu quietly strumming his  
guitar.


	4. Horrible Timing

"Hey Karrah. Feeling better? Are you sure you're all right? Your eyes say you were crying." Tsiriu said, putting down his guitar. He walked over to her, kinda nervous as to what he was thinking about doing. The recent, event, had gotten him thinking.

"Yeah, I'm fine, and hey, since when do my eyes talk to you and not me?" Karrah joked, flopping on the bed she looked at Tsiriu questioningly

"Everyone's eyes talk, its just not many people listen. You'd be amazed at what you can see in a person's eyes. Anger, happiness, hatred, sorrow, loneliness, so much more. In your eyes, I see, I see something that's very familiar to me. Confusion. I'm kinda nervous, but, uh..." Tsiriu's voice trails off, and he looks at his feet.

"Tsiriu, will you be honest with me?" Karrah asked with a bit of fear in her voice

Snapped out of his own little world where possibilities played themselves out, he looked up into her eyes. Her eyes have already changed! Fear, and hope, and, something new. I've never seen that before... "Of course Karrah. What's on your mind?" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Do... Do you..." she started, but she couldn't bring herself to finish it, she liked this guy so much she didn't want to hear his answer, she'd rather like him and never know that he didn't like her. Not caring about that she finished, "Do you... do you like me Tsiriu?"

"I'm not sure what you mean Karrah. If you mean as a friend, then I'd say more then yes. If you said, as more then a friend, uh, don't you hate it when you can't find the words for something?" Tsiriu said, looking at his feet again. A single, helpful thought came into his mind, and he decided it's now or never. Why else would she be asking? Is she afraid she might have to hurt me?

"Yeah, i know what you mean," Karrah said looking down as well, she felt as if she had just been shot in the heart, she felt almost as if she had the knife to her throat again, 'So... he doesn't like me... that proves it then... i really should stay away from guys...' looking back up at Tsiriu she smiled at him and said "it's okay, you don't have to answer me now, i think i know what your going to say anyway, i get it don't worry."

"Maybe this can answer your question Karrah, although I'm more then a bit nervous." Tsiriu said, drawing her into a deep embrace. Loosening his hold just enough for him to look into Karrah's hazel eyes, his eyes a much brighter blue then before. His cheeks were a deep red. He drew closer to Karrah, so slowly even a snail could have gotten there faster. His lips met hers, so gently even a hummingbird would not have stirred.

Feeling Tsiriu's lips barely brush hers, Karrah wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, she suddenly felt as if everything was right, pulling away from Tsiriu but still keeping her arms around him she looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Tears. Now there's something I haven't seen in a long time. I guess, I, I should be going. I'm sorry I wasted your time. I'll, I'll see you around I guess." Tsiriu said, looking at his feet as he packed up his guitar.

Staring at Tsiriu for a second as he packed up his stuff she walked over to him and lightly put her hand on his, when he brought his head up she gave his hand an insistent tug, and when he turned around, for a split second, she saw tears brimming in his eyes, feeling horrible for allowing him to think that, Karrah tackled him onto her bed, once they stopped bouncing Karrah stared deeply into Tsiriu's eyes, probing them to see if he really was going to leave. When she found that he truly thought she didn't like him she couldn't take it, next thing she knew she had rolled over and he was on top of her, kissing her. She didn't know who had started the kiss, she assumed it was her, but she didn't care. After a few seconds she pulled back a little again, and said "Tsiriu, don't leave, i couldn't stand it if you did, i like you Tsiriu, i do. But is it so bad if i cry from happiness?"

"Happiness? Oh! Karrah! I'm such an idiot! I'm sorry, it's been so long since I've been happy, or seen someone else cry of happiness. I've only seen people cry in sorrow. Karrah, I won't leave. No offense to you though, but I'm not exactly comfortable in this house though. It's your dad. It's that smell, the acrid, metallic smell of alcohol. I'll stay though, if you really want me to." Tsiriu said, brushing away her tears with a gentle caress.

Hugging Tsiriu tightly she replied "I'd love for you to stay here, but i wouldn't want you to, i don't want to live here either, i can barely call these people family, my brother hates me, my dad hits me, and my mom hasn't said a word to me in years, can i come live with you Tsiriu? You don't have to let me though," blowing away a stray lock of hair that had fallen across her face she looked back at Tsiriu awaiting his answer

"Sorry, what? Oh, my place isn't big enough for two people to live in just yet, but if you can give me enough time to fix that, sure. It'd be kinda nice to actually have company. But first we need to figure out how we're gonna get all your stuff out without your parents catching on." Tsiriu said after taking a few seconds to figure out what just happened.

"Well, my parents wont be home for this weekend, they're going on vacation with my little brother, besides, i bet my parents would be happy to find out that i up and left. Heh, yeah i can wait, just please don't take too long, i can't stand living here." Touching Tsiriu's lips to her own, Karrah twined her arms around Tsiriu's neck and put a hand on the back of his head.

Pulling her gently closer, his eyes closed. He soon became lost in this kiss, his mind free of all his problems, his heart free from all his demons. For the first time in nearly ten years, he felt truly at peace, and he once again knew happiness. He knew that this girl was different then all the rest. She was someone just like him, hated, misunderstood, and socially challenged. "Of course. It's only a couple of trips to the woodworking department at school, and a few bucks at the hardware store." he said after pulling away for breath.

"Okay," she breathed with her eyes still closed, letting her arms fall from around Tsiriu's neck she peeked up at him and giggled

"What's with the giggle?" he replied playfully. He hadn't felt like this in years, he was actually happy! Even though it felt like the first time, he knew it would not be the last. He took out his guitar and tuned it.

Walking up to Tsiriu, Karrah wormed her way into his lap and held his guitar for him, strumming a few chords she jumped out of his lap and lay down on her bed again, raising her knees so she could see the guitar frets she started playing a very fast System of a Down song, called Kill rock 'n roll

"Heh, I was gonna teach you a song I wrote, but this is fine too. I haven't heard you actually play yet." Tsiriu said, laughing. Laughing, now there's something he hadn't done in a long time.

Smiling up at him, she put his guitar down and picked up her electric guitar, plugging it into her distortion pedal and turning it on, she started playing a popular song called BYOB

Tsiriu played along with her using his acoustic guitar, weaving around her notes better then most guitarists could manage, yet he did it almost effortlessly. A smile slowly came across his face, his heart feeling far lighter then it had that morning. "Karrah," he said when the song was done. "your brother's coming. should we let him find out?"

"No," she replied quickly, if her brother found out, the first thing he'd do is tell her dad, and then her dad would have one more reason to hate her... "Tsiriu," she whispered, "hide somewhere, like the dollhouse or something, please," she pleaded with him hoping that he wouldn't be as stubborn as he looked.

Tsiriu had began the Psynergy after she said no, diving for the dollhouse. "I'll watch." were the only words that were audible, even though he was screaming them at the top of his lungs.

giggling slightly at the sight of a miniature Tsiriu screaming up at her, she carefully stepped towards the door and opened it, "yes?" she asked hoping to have her little brother leave quickly. "um..." came her little brothers reply "mom asked me to get your dishes, and who were you talking to?" he inquired looking around the room. spotting Tsiriu's guitar case he sprang forward with a shout of triumph and grabbed it. "Who's is this?" he asked dangling the case in front or her by the handle, "N-nobody's" she stammered, trying to quickly think up an excuse. "Tsiriu eh?" he said reading the name carved onto the side of the case, "Who's that? some guy your sleeping with?"

"NO!" came Karrah's shocked reply, feeling angry she snatched it out of Jake's hand and thrusting her dishes into her brothers arms, she marched him out of her room, and right before she slammed the door she said "For your information, this is a friend of mine, he's letting me borrow it, now buzz off jackass,"

"Interesting brother you have there. He'd fit in easily with the majority of the people at school. Anyway, that was a little bit close. Thought I ripped that part of the case off. Sorry bout that. Now, we need to make detailed plans for moving you out this weekend." Tsiriu said, emerging from the dollhouse, cheeks slightly pink, but hardly noticeable.

"yeah," she said walking up to him, linking her hand in his, she lead him back to her bed, where their guitars were laying. moving the guitars out of the way, she flopped on her bed and sighed

"You sound depressed, what's on your mind Karrah?" Tsiriu said, worried.

Laughing, Karrah sat up and shook her head at Tsiriu "I'm not depressed or anything, don't worry," and to prove her point, she slid over to where Tsiriu was sitting, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him soundly on the cheek.

"Huh, I'm normally real good at reading people too. I'll have to start practicing again." he replied, pulling her close. "Now, as you saw with the stuffed animal I could probably enlarge the area of effect of that Psynergy and shrink all of your things so we can fit them into pockets or something. Then we can just walk right out like nothing. Sound good?" Tsiriu suggested, going through the gestures required very slowly, so Karrah could follow along. "Pay attention because I'm going to teach you a very simple combat Psynergy called Fume. Your eyes burn like flame, so fire should suit you. Sound good?"

giggling slightly at Tsiriu's choice of words she nodded and tried to copy his movements, after a few tries she still couldn't get it. wondering why, Tsiriu had her do the movements very slowly, as she did them Tsiriu made the minor corrections such as "No no, you only extend your fingers halfway, not three quarters," and such, finally, she managed to make a small flame in the palm of her hand, and even more surprisingly, it didn't burn her.

"Now, draw the fire into yourself, negating what we've done so far. We'll want to be in my practice area when I teach you the rest. I'll stop you if you make a mistake. Took me three months to draw in fire instead of push it out, but your mind and soul were meant for fire, mine weren't." Tsiriu said, smiling. _Wow, it normally takes at least half a year for most people to be able to do that much without Adept blood!_ he thought, going through the other Fire Psynergies he knew in his mind.

"okay," Karrah said. Setting her focus towards the fire, she sort of made the sort of feeling of something being sucked inwards from her hand, and to her amazement, the fire lessened, and disappeared, smiling at Tsiriu with pride, she hugged him. "well, i guess i don't need to worry about hot frying pans anymore do i?" she joked pulling closer to him.

"Actually for now you do, but only until I teach you some Dark Psynergy. Of course, I'll have to deal with that stereotype that's ingrained into every child about Dark energy or Dark forces and that sort of stuff. yawn It's getting late, let's figure out what's going on tonight as far as where I'm sleeping. I'm not sleeping on the bed so don't even bother trying. Remember that Psynergy I know, it could come in handy." Tsiriu said, laughing. "You know, you are the only one to ever have progressed this fast since the Mars Clan a few thousand years ago." he added, his eyes getting heavy.

Seeing as how Tsiriu looked ready to drop off, she decided to play with his mind a little, "Well Tsiriu, do you think you could shrink us down and we could go sleep in the dollhouse?" she asked with a glint in her eye

Tsiriu's throat tightened up faster then Karrah had dispelled the fire. "Uh, um. Little too fast for me Karrah, sorry. Please remember, you're my first so, uh..." he stuttered, far more nervous then he'd been all night.

"Oh but Tsiriu, i thought we had... you know, connected," she said placing her hand on his leg and lathering her eyes and voice with thinly veiled humor

"I, I, I uh, I, I'm, j-just, not ready, sorry." was all that the extremely embarrassed Tsiriu was able to say through his tight throat and bright, bright red cheeks.

Getting very close to Tsiriu, to the point where their noses were almost touching Karrah looked him straight in the eye, gave him a quick peck on the lips, looked him in the eye again, and fell off the bed with laughter. "You... you really think i...i would do...that?" Karrah asked between gasps for air, she was rolling on the floor laughing so hard tears started streaming from her eyes and her face turned red as a tomato.

"You should've seen your face!" she exclaimed pointing and laughing again, "Oh god Tsiriu, that was good,"

The only reply was Tsiriu's knuckles cracking, as well as the air around him. Small black bolts of electricity darted from him to nearby objects, and his eyes were red as blood.

Seeing Tsiriu's eyes Karrah immediately stopped laughing and tentatively asked Tsiriu "uh, you okay? I was just kidding Hun, I didn't mean it, and I'm sorry ok?" Getting really nervous Karrah started to slowly back away from Tsiriu, seeing the look in his eyes just... scared her, it was worse than looking at her dad when he was drunk.

Tsiriu suddenly collapsed to his knees, his sides jerking with laughter. "How about your face? Hehehehehhahahaha! Oh, that was awesome. Hey, you look pale. you alright? Did I overdo it?" Tsiriu asked, looking up. "I did huh? Your face tells it all. Sorry Karrah, I'm not mad or anything, just wanted to repay the trick. I really am sorry. It's just intimidation, it really is. I can't actually get like that, it's just an illusion meant to scare away possible adversaries." he added, holding her close.

Holding Tsiriu close she murmured "Yeah, it was slightly overdone, but its okay, i deserved it, but you really did look scary as hell for a second there." breaking the embrace Karrah looked Tsiriu in the eye again. after a few moments she sighed very quietly and once again, flopped on her bed.

Tsiriu walked over to the bed and sat next to it. "Sorry, You didn't deserve that much. I didn't slightly overdo it. I reminded you of your dad huh? I saw the same fear that was in your eyes after your dad hit you. I'm sorry Karrah. You mad?" he said sorrowfully, placing his head right in front of hers.

She smiled and shook her head, leaning upwards, she kissed Tsiriu and said "you know, you read people way too well, its almost scary, and you don't need to worry all the time about me, i can take care of myself, but even so, its still really sweet," she managed before Tsiriu leaned down and their lips embraced each other again, pushing a little bit more against Tsiriu she felt him open his mouth, opening hers she felt him insert her tongue into her mouth, and their tongues fenced for a few minutes

His ears twitched slightly. _I officially hate whoever's timing is this friggen bad._ He pulled away from Karrah as soon as the footsteps were audible. He went through the gestures insanely quickly and dove under the bed. He buried himself in a clod of dust, thankful he wasn't allergic to anything. "I hate this person now!" was all he could say during the Psynergy.

Wondering why Tsiriu had suddenly dove under the bed, she was about to ask him what was wrong when she heard a knock at the door. Getting up off the bed and wiping her mouth so nothing showed up, she opened the door a crack and saw her mother standing there, hands on her hips and a slightly angry expression on her face. "Whats all the laughing about Karrah?" she asked placidly "um... nothing mom, i was listening to the radio and a funny song came on, that's all." poking her head in, her mom looked around the room, and seeing everything as normal as normal could be in a girl like Karrah's room, she nodded and closed the door. letting out a low whistle she walked over to her bed and whispered under it, "You can come out now, its okay, the bad ladies gone."

"Bad lady? The only reason I hate her is because of her horrible timing. yawns a lot more profoundly then before Unfortunately I don't think I'd be able to stay awake for too much longer. What are we gonna do about sleep? It is almost three you know." Tsiriu said, his eyes almost closed. "And no more mind tricks this time Karrah!"

Giggling Karrah said, "Well, i don't know what to do, i don't want to make you sleep on the floor, I'd feel bad if i did. God knows how dirty that is." and then added as an afterthought "and no, you are not sleeping in the dollhouse, that's our special place," smiling, she kissed Tsiriu again and mentioned for the sake of mentioning she said "And yeah, she does have bad timing, the entire family does."

"I don't think you have bad timing. But anyway, alright. Let's see where we sleep. Heads, you get floor, tails, I get the floor." Tsiriu said, taking out a quarter. Flipping it into the air, he caught it, still spinning, on the tip of his finger. Willing it into the air, he let it fall into his open hand. "Tails. Looks like I sleep on the floor. I've got a sleeping bag around here somewhere…" he added, scrounging in his guitar case for a sleeping bag. Pulling it out, he wished Karrah goodnight and slid into the best sleep he ever had as soon as his head hit the makeshift pillow attached to the sleeping bag.


	5. Nightmares and a New Present

Only half asleep, Karrah felt Tsiriu pick her up and put her to bed. After she knew he was in bed, she snuggled deeper into the blankets, falling asleep for an hour or two. She woke up to find that she was drenched with sweat and that she was tangled up in her sheets. Taking off the pj bottoms she normally wore to bed, she folded them and tossed them on the floor. taking a drink from the water jug she had next to her bed she splashed some water on her face, and lay down to go back to sleep. Falling back asleep, her dreams were not as peaceful as they were before, had Tsiriu been awake he would have noticed that Karrah was tossing and turning and constantly rolling over, muttering in her sleep, finally waking up with a small, short scream she sat up and looked around her room in a panic.

Tsiriu was up in a heartbeat, a large knife in his hand. Taking a glance about the room, he noticed that nothing happened. "Hey Karrah, are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?"

Bent forward in her bed, and visibly crying and shaking, she looked up at him with a haunted expression, nodding slightly, she dropped her head back down and continued to sob.

"Shh, it's okay. What happened? What's wrong?" Tsiriu said, noting her expression. "Was it about me?"

Without looking up, she nodded again, and when she thought back to the dream, she started crying again, and even whimpering. Pulling her twisted sheets around herself, she let the tears flow freely.

Holding her tighter, Tsiriu found new stores of energy for Psynergy. Creating a simple illusion for anyone who came in, he began working on a much more complex one, one that would envelope both him and Karrah. Everything went black, and Karrah could be seen crying alone in the middle of the dark expanse. "Karrah!" came a strangely familiar voice. Tsiriu, glowing a bright white, was running towards her with a worried expression on his face. "Karrah, please, tell me what's wrong? I've drawn your spirit into my heart, please, tell me what's wrong. No one will hear this but us."

"I, I just had a bad dream Tsiriu, you were in it and... and we were back in time somehow, we were traveling, and suddenly, some bandits ambushed us, we tried to fight them but... there were too many, and, they captured us, and then when we got to their camp, they started to have a little fun, with me. And when you got angry, they... they..." Karrah couldn't bring herself to say it, summoning all of her courage, she finished "they raped me right in front of you and they killed you."

Tsiriu's eyes flashed black. "Don't worry Karrah, I'll never, ever let that happen. I promise. I can teach you things that can blow an army away, using them however, if something completely different. It's only been used once, but that was by an entire council of blood Adepts, and incredibly powerful ones at that. They were put in a sort of cryogenic stasis because of it. Don't worry Karrah, I practice every day to become more powerful, and if it does come to me dying, I'll make sure to take down as many of those jackasses as I can, dragging them down to Hell with me. I'll make sure you get out. Come, as you can see I'm perfectly fine. I'll make you something that might help with the nightmares. It always helped me after my last friend, left." Tsiriu said, holding her tight, encasing her in his warmth. The white glow grew brighter and brighter still, until nothing could be seen but white. Then Karrah's room slowly slid into focus, and the illusion dissipated.

As Tsiriu started to let go of her Karrah clung tightly to him, she was afraid of being alone like that, and she was afraid of being away from Tsiriu. "No," she whispered, "Tsiriu don't let go of me, i don't want to be away from you," as she wrapped her arms around him her blanket fell from her shoulders.

"I'm not letting go of you, you've been hugging me the entire time you were in my heart. Just do me a favor: loosen up your arms, it's hard to breathe." Tsiriu said, nearly out of breath.

Letting go slightly she snuggled into Tsiriu's lap, and looking up at him, she had a sudden image in her mind, of what life would be like without him, and it hurt her, this hurt bringing forth a fresh wave of tears she buried her face in his chest and cried some more.

"No more tears Karrah, I'm still here, and I plan to be for a long, long time. Don't worry. I know exactly how much it must hurt you right now. I've been cursed with nightmares just like yours. You may be my first girlfriend, but you're not the first one I've let myself get close to. If you calm down, I'll be able to tell you more, if you would like to hear it..." Tsiriu whispered, wiping the tears off of her left cheek. Tears began to form in his eyes, but he forced them away. If there was ever a time when he needed to be strong, it was now

"Okay," she murmured, forcing back the tears. As Tsiriu opened his mouth, she leaned up and kissed him. Opening her mouth to, she stuck her tongue into his mouth and they made out for a few minutes, Tsiriu stroking the back of her head, and Karrah running a hand down his chest. Only halfway through did Karrah realize she was in just a damp shirt and her underwear. Blushing, Karrah hoped Tsiriu wouldn't notice and kept kissing him.

"Karrah, I think it's time you learned why I haven't had a friend in so long. My last friend, her name was Ellirianna, we were really close, almost as close as we are. She died, to save my life. We were riding bikes up by the movie theatre, ten years ago today, and we stopped to catch our breath and tell our parents we'd be a little late. We used to live in the apartment complex near the theatre. A drunkard came swerving for me while I was leaning against a telephone pole. Ellie pushed me out of the way, and, she, got, sandwiched, between the van he was driving and the telephone pole. I picked her up and carried her to the hospital seeing the resulting accident was too large for the ambulance to make it in time. She died at midnight that night, in my arms. When we get to my house, I'll show you the jacket I wore that day. I've put it through the wash so many times, but the blood just doesn't go away. This, that's why I went to such lengths to protect you. I didn't want to lose another person that I loved. I just couldn't take it. Everyone knew and they all thought I'd killed her, so they ridiculed me and insulted me, so I distanced myself from them all. Soon afterwards, my parents died and I started living on my own. That's when I first built my house, only then I didn't have the generator." Tsiriu said, holding Karrah tightly as if to ensure that she would not go like Ellie did, or betray him like his friends had. A silent tear formed on the corner of his eye, and he lessened his grip on Karrah, knowing she was probably having a hard time breathing. "The only thing I have to remember her by, is that quilt I showed you. She made that for me, three months before she died. It was a birthday present." He added as he began to scrounge through his guitar case, searching for the things he had bought a few nights ago to repair his curtains.

"Tsiriu..." Karrah breathed as she watched tears form up into his eyes, wiping away his tears she looked into his eyes, she stared deep into them, and she saw all of his hurt, the hurt of losing someone he loved, the hurt of him being ridiculed at school, the hurt of his parents dying and living on his own.

Feeling compassion for the young man holding her in his lap, she hugged him close, not tightly, but close, as she could tell he needed to feel that she wasn't going anywhere. When he hugged her close and started to shake slightly, she pulled away a bit and whispered into his ear "Tsiriu, I'm not going anywhere, i promise you, I'm not leaving here," and kissed him on the cheek for reassurance.

Hugging him again not just for his reassurance, but for her own as she remembered her dream, she leaned against him a little too heavily, and they fell backwards. Finding herself suddenly on top of Tsiriu, she blushed and smiled at him

"I know Karrah, I know because I'm going to do everything that I can and more to prevent that." Tsiriu said, for some reason he wasn't nervous this time. Leaving control to his body, his arms crept around Karrah's back as he noticed how wet her shirt was. Pushing her off of him gently, he smiled warmly. "You might want to change again by the way." he said laughing. He didn't notice her pj bottoms behind him.

Giggling, she looked at her shirt and when she noticed how wet it was, and the fact that it was white, and she wasn't wearing a bra... Blushing furiously she wrapped an arm over her chest and turned away, "could you um, hold on for a second?" she asked him

"Of course Karrah." Tsiriu said, tuning around and sitting. He took out a strange, prism-like object that glowed a bright red and orange, much like heatless flame. Carving into it with a Psynergetic blade made of pure Darkness, he absorbed himself fully into shaping the strange crystal.

Meanwhile, Karrah had gotten up and was foraging around in her dresser drawer, seeing a shirt that she could sleep in and still be comfortable, she quickly threw off her shit and making sure Tsiriu wasn't looking, she pulled the other one on. Still focused on the crystal, Tsiriu couldn't even have heard a bomb go off ten feet away from him. Taking immense amounts of care with each tiny nick, he slowly shaped the flame-like crystal. At the time, he constructed a chain, of a mineral similar to black onyx, out of several pure elements he plucked out of the air around. The crystal began to resemble two joined crescent moons, with another pair of crescent moons in the center, slowly revolving. The inner crescents were glowing a bright blue, resonating with strange new energy.

After pulling a bra and a shirt on, Karrah turned around to see Tsiriu doing something with some crystal, and watched as it turned into a necklace. Walking up behind him she peered over his shoulder at the necklace and looked at Tsiriu questioningly

Still focused on the amulet, his eyes slowly turned to the same fiery red as the crystal, his pupils becoming the blue. Putting down the knife he used to carve the delicate crystal, his eyes closed, and the crystal began to glow brighter and brighter, until its light filled the room. Strange lines could be seen forming on the amulet, the lines forming strange symbols. Attaching the chain to the completed amulet, Tsiriu began to turn around, to bump against Karrah's head. "Oh, this is the thing I told you I'd make for you. It should help with the nightmares." he said, reaching around her neck to put the necklace on her.

"Tsiriu..." Karrah breathed as he put the link on the chain together, picking up the amulet and looking at it, she saw a little flame flickering on the inside, moving the crystal to get a better look, it changed color. Gasping, Karrah stared at the strange intricate symbol carved into it. Running her finger along it, she looked back up at Tsiriu. "It's, beautiful..." she murmured staring back down at it, looking back up at Tsiriu with tears in her eyes, "thank you," she murmured again, and sat there, entranced by the intricacy and utter beauty of the delicate amulet

"You're welcome Karrah. Items and putting attributes on inanimate objects is my specialty. Come on, we should try to get some more sleep, it's nearly three." Tsiriu said, holding her close. His eyes were getting heavy again, and he could tell Karrah was getting tired as well.

Holding Tsiriu back, Karrah curled up next to him and started to fall asleep, planting one more kiss on his lips, she closed her eyes to drift off to sleep

For the second time that night, Tsiriu picked her up gently and laid her on her bed. Just as he was pulling her heavy blanket over her, he noticed that the pj bottoms she wore to bed earlier that night were lying on the floor. Blushing so much his face looked like an apple, he covered Karrah up and pushed the pants under the bed. He crawled into the sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep yet again that night.


	6. The Key

Karrah jumped off the couch and ran towards the door, peeking through the peephole, she saw Tsiriu, looking a little winded and really tired standing at her door. Then she opened the door.

"Hey Karrah. Everyone gone like you said?" Tsiriu said, looking around. "There's no cars here."

"Yes everyone's gone, did you eat dinner? I'm making chicken and rice." At the mention of this, her eyes got really wide, and she ran back into the kitchen.

"Nice to see you too." he yelled, making sure she could hear him. Guessing he could come in, he did, shrinking his bike and putting it in his pocket.

Blushing in the kitchen, she quickly unplugged the crock pot and poured out some rice and chicken onto two plates. "Come in," she called down the hall, just in case Tsiriu hadn't come in. When he entered the kitchen she walked up and hugged him, kissing him, she motioned for him to sit down and went to go grab drinks.

"Someone's been busy. Mmmm, this smells great." Tsiriu said, sitting down. He saw that, in her hurry, Karrah forgot silverware. He walked over and opened the most logical drawer for where the silverware would be. Guessing right, he took out two spoons and two forks.

Walking back in with two cokes in her hand, she set one in front of Tsiriu and asked "You like coke? 'cause we have just about every brand of everything in the fridge,"

"Coke is fine Karrah. Sit down, relax, we've got quite a bit of work to do. I'll need your help to shrink your stuff. And I'll need a bit of a breather too." he replied, taking a big sip. "This is really good, thanks Karrah. So, did the necklace help with the nightmares?"

"Mhm," Karrah said through a mouthful of food, swallowing she continued "definatly, I slept like a baby last night."

"Interesting. I wonder why it glows like flame. Normally the crystal's light fades to near nothing when it's carved." Tsiriu said, examining the amulet around her neck. "Perhaps that changes when it's worn by a Fire adept."

"Yeah, maybe," still confused as to what most of what he was talking about, shrugging it off, Karrah continued to eat, watching Tsiriu carefully.

"What's with that look?" Tsiriu queried, looking up at her.

"what look?" she asked getting extremely confused, she hadn't been giving him any look, just studying him

"Nothing, never mind." he replied, taking another bite. _Could've sworn she gave me a weird look. Must be the exhaustion setting in._ "You don't mind if we wait a bit before we start getting your stuff ready do you? I'm still a bit spent from adding on to my place."

She dropped her fork with a clatter, "You finished it all in one day?" she asked shocked

"Yeah, they only had the large pieces of wood so I didn't have to nail anywhere near as much. I've still got some stuff to do, but it's habitable. It should be done by the time we go to bed." he replied like it was nothing. "Why do you ask? I've seen it done a hell of a lot faster before."

"I don't know, its just that I've seen a house come up in a few months, almost a year, and it was one story, so i don't know much about carpentry, and in answer to your question, yes we can hang out here for a while. My brothers gone, he probably won't be back till Monday or something so we're good."

"Alright. Are you going to leave them a note or something?" Tsiriu asked, putting his empty bowl in the sink.

"i dont know, do you think i should?" Karrah asked.

"Do you care if they get worried? I mean, I know your dad is an ass when he's drunk, but is he like that otherwise? And what about your mom? She may not have said anything to you in years, but that doesn't mean too much. And your bro might want to know what happened." he said, remembering how he had no family.

"Well," Karrah trailed off as the logic of it set into her mind, however, she sort of wanted payback for everything they've done to her. but, that wouldn't be right, and her mind at the moment was a mess. after a few seconds of thinking, she finally decided to write them a note. "But, we aren't leaving now, you still need to rest. come on in the den, we can watch TV, and we've got surround sound.

**"**Alright. Are you leaving them a note? You never did say." Tsiriu replied, curious.

"Yeah i am, i don't want to, but i still should." taking a hold of his hand, she led him to the den and handed him the remote. "You can watch what you want, i'll go clean up the dishes,"

"Alright. Good choice with the note." Tsiriu said, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

Squeezing his hand before letting go, she hurried into the kitchen and rapidly scrubbed the bowls, the pot, put the leftover chicken and rice in a Tupperware container, and washed the crock pot. She did all this in a record time of about 15 minutes. Walking back into the den she saw Tsiriu absentmindedly flipping through the channels, "um Tsiriu, there is a guide you know, so we can see what's on." she said from the doorway

"Oh, you've got the good cable? I've just got plain basic." he said, looking at the remote with a little more interest. "Plus we need to figure out how we're gonna do this."

"Do what?" Karrah asked as she settled herself into Tsiriu's lap

"Get your stuff to my place. After that, one of my acquaintances can give us a ride to whatever stores we need for decor. You're moving in, right?" Tsiriu said, gently resting his head on her shoulder.

She turned her head until she could look him in the eye, leaning up against him more she said. "Of course, i just didn't know if you were talking about the cable, or moving in."

"Oh, alright. So, any ideas?" Tsiriu said, taking out a small notepad. "So we can weigh the advantages and disadvantages and make the best decision. Remember: stealth is gonna be a big factor in this. If a family friend or relative or something sees us shopping for decor, it might create more then a few uncomfortable complications."

Laughing at Tsiriu's notepad, she answered. "Um, well, it would just be easier if i went and shopped by myself," seeing his look she added "and don't worry, you can be with me, just not right next to me okay? I'll come get you if i need you i promise,"

"Alright. So, what are you gonna bring? I could probably fit everything in my bike rack if I shrink it." Tsiriu queried, smiling. "And what's so funny? I normally use it for songwriting."

"Nothing, i just thought of something that's all. I'm not gonna bring much, just my bed, posters, guitar, and clothes, maybe the dresser too."

No stereo? No music? Just your bed, no blankets or anything? I need specific stuff to shape the Psynergy so leave nothing out." Tsiriu said, smiling still

Smacking her forehead with her hand Karrah nodded and said. "Yes, of course my stereo and guitar and all of my music, pretty much everything in there like my clock and the like, but i didn't want to burden you with everything, and of course blankets too." Thinking for a moment Karrah's expression brightened as she got an idea. "Hey, how about we just go up and i pick the things i want to bring and pick the things i want to leave?"

"We'll take the things you want to leave out of the room and I'll perform the Psynergy to shrink all objects in the room. One drawback: I'll get shrunk too so while I'm doing the Psynergy, find the food with the highest sugar content and break it down into crumbs on a plate, this way I'll be able to resize myself soon after. Making things grow takes much more energy then making this shrink." Tsiriu answered, holding Karrah's wrists gently. "And there's no need to hit yourself."

"I wasn't actually beating myself," she assured him while removing her wrist from his grasp "I was just having a revelation that's all, but thanks for worrying Hun, makes me feel loved," she kissed Tsiriu on the cheek and snuggled in closer to him.

"One, I didn't say you were beating yourself, only hitting. And how come I have to worry about you to make you feel loved? I'd rather you feel loved without me having to worry, wouldn't you if you were me?" Tsiriu said, laughing slightly.

"No, no, no, Tsiriu you've got it all wrong, i feel loved when I'm with you anyway, you worrying about me just reminds me of that even more, and hey, are you saying you actually love me?" she asked trying to read his expression to prepare herself for the best, or the worst, unfortunately it didn't work.

"Damn. I hoped to say it in a different way, but I guess that's been blown to hell. Oh well. The only time I've ever had one of my battle rages is when someone I love is in danger of dying. It's never been like when you had that dagger to your neck Karrah. I can always control it, and that time, I had no control at all. I've known it would happen when I was protecting someone I really, really loved, but I didn't think it'd happen this early in my life so I didn't bother to prepare for it. Anyway, we should start getting your stuff ready." Tsiriu said, blushing.

For no reason whatsoever, Karrah burst into tears and buried her face in his chest. Wrapping her arms around him, she held him close.

"What's wrong Karrah? It's okay, I'm not gonna let anyone harm you. I promise Karrah. I promise, Hun. Don't worry my love, everything's gonna be alright. I'll make sure of it personally." Tsiriu said, holding her hand gently and kissing her lightly.

"N-no, that's n-not it," Karrah told him "I'm not worried of anything, I'm just happy b-because Tsiriu... I l-love you t-too." Kissing him back, she tried to fight back a fresh wave of tears and hugged him tighter.

"Karrah, if you're so happy then why do you cry so? When people cry of happiness they don't normally sob. I need to know what's wrong in order to help." Tsiriu replied, brushing away her tears with his index finger.

"Nothings wrong Hun," Karrah murmured. "I promise, i don't know why i sob, my emotions just build up and then next thing i know I'm crying, so I'm sorry if i scared you or something, and i really do love you too," she emphasized this by kissing him "now, lets go pick what I'm getting shall we?" she asked with a smile.

"Alright. Perhaps later I can help you get rid of those emotions. Sounds good to me. Come on, after we pack everything up and I return to normal size I'm gonna have to rest for a while. I'll hardly be able to walk because this Psynergy takes most of it's energy from the legs." Tsiriu said, returning the kiss gently. He got up and helped Karrah up, then they walked towards Karrah's room hand in hand.

Opening her door Karrah sat down on the floor and sighed, pulling her guitar over to her she plucked a few of the strings, made sure all of her picks were with her, tuned it and set it in its case. Pushing that behind her, she grabbed the next thing that caught her eye, which was her stereo. Unplugging it she set it atop her guitar case "this," she said pointing to the small pile "is the 'to your house' pile, the rest will be next to my bed."

"I'll need it out of the room, I can only size the Psynergy to that or the house. Heh, great options huh?" Tsiriu said, laughing.

"well, maybe shrinking the house wouldn't be such a bad idea, it'd give my parents a scare," she said with a small laugh, rolling her eight-ball next to the rapidly growing pile of stuff she was keeping, she moved onwards to under her bed. "Hey Tsiriu, got a rope? I might get lost under here," she joked

Tsiriu laughed. "Sorry, I don't keep everything in my guitar case! Hahaha, anyway, I don't think shrinking the house would work too well, it'd kill me, literally, to put it back." he added, being a little bit more serious.

"Damn," she muttered "I was really hoping to see the look on my dads face when he sees that the house is gone. My brothers too for that matter," she said pulling out the dusty junk that was stuffed under there. When she saw one of her old magazines, she folded that up and hid it in her shirt.

"Something you don't want me seeing? Anyway, got everything?" Tsiriu said, laughing.

Turning a bright red Karrah murmured "It's just something that's old... from a while ago, and i thought i had gotten rid of it but i guess not. I've almost got everything, just help me find my PS2,"

"I've got one, we'll just grab your games for now. I'm gonna start bringing everything that's staying into the hallway and I'm also gonna start gathering the energy. It might get a tad bit drafty in here, but that's just me. If you distract me though Karrah, I'll have to start over. Anything you want to say before I start?" Tsiriu said, looking over.

"Yes," she said walking over to Tsiriu, wrapping her arms around his neck she kissed him and said "I want to say i love you," and as she pulled away, the magazine she had had tried to hide fell out of her shirt.

"Karrah, is this yours? And truth would be best right now by the way." Tsiriu said, picking the magazine up with two fingers. The title was blocked, but it was clear it was Playboy. "Come on, is it?"

Turning such a bright red that it's possible Karrah invented a new shade of it, she hung her head in shame and nodded.

"It's alright Karrah. I hang out, well, as close to hang out as I do, with quite a few people who almost make this kind of stuff their life. They're not too bad to hang around with though. Friggen hilarious, that's for damn sure. I'm used to this. Look up, it's alright. I don't mind." Tsiriu said, tossing it into the keep pile. "I take it you want to keep it? It's nothing to be ashamed of, not in my mind at least. I'm willing to guess that at least half the world looks at stuff like this."

"Well its not just that... but, never mind, forget it." she muttered looking away and throwing the magazine in the keep pile

"Karrah, what are you so ashamed of?" Tsiriu asked, putting a hand on Karrah's soft shoulder.

"Its just that, one of the things everyone used to tease me about is that I'm bi..." she trailed off looking down again.

"Is that all? Big deal! Your bi, that's really something I'm not used to. I hang out with all four! Trust me, I've got nothing against people who are bi." Tsiriu laughed, smiling.

"You sure?" she asked looking up, she had been so afraid that she had just ruined it with the first guy she'd ever dated, or loved for that matter. "Are you really sure you're okay with it?"

"Karrah, I hang out with people who are bi. I'm totally fine with it. The only difference is that you're not obsessed." Tsiriu said, chuckling.

"Okay," and hugging and kissing Tsiriu she reached into her closet quickly to grab her games

"You might want to grab any more of those that you have, just so that your brother doesn't make the ridicule worse." Tsiriu suggested, putting her games into a large case.

Blushing furiously, she reached under her bed and grabbed the few more that were hidden there, throwing them on the pile she nodded her head and said "okay, that should do it. i'll go outside and go get that sugar stuff"

"Thanks Karrah. I'll start on the shrinking." Tsiriu said, the air around him growing black as he gathered energy. All the items in that pile were now engulfed in a black shroud, conforming to each individual item. Tsiriu's hands moved in a blur, the symbols glowing in the air in front of his hands.

Seeing the small beads of sweat stand out on Tsiriu's forehead, Karrah quietly closed the door and maneuvered around the large pile of stuff she wasn't keeping, into the kitchen and grabbed some pop-tarts, a bowl of cereal, and a few spoonfuls of sugar.

Tsiriu's body began to shiver, his lungs screaming. A second later, the items had resumed their normal colors and were considerably smaller. They would now fit into a doubled-up plastic bag. Gasping, Tsiriu fell to the floor, nearly passing out. It was Karrah's worried voice that kept him on the brink between consciousness and sleep.

Setting down the little plate of food Karrah rushed over to Tsiriu's prone body, feeling his forehead she gasped at how cold it was, grabbing a few blankets she wrapped him tightly in them, grabbed the plate, and started to give Tsiriu little pieces of the pop-tart

"Mmph. Thanks. I guess the more alchemically complex the item... the harder it is to modify." he said, his voice weak and barely a whisper. "I don't know why I'm so cold. Remember that vial? Get it out of my guitar case. If I mix it with sugar, it negates the toxic fumes and becomes a muscle relaxer. Just mix a couple tablespoons of sugar into the entire vial, shake it up well, and rub it on my shoulders and arms. They're so tense they will hardly move." Tsiriu said, snuggling up to Karrah's warm, soft body.

Giving Tsiriu a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, she jumped up to his guitar case, and opening it, she pulled his guitar out and began searching through the assortment of knives once again. Before finding the vial, she found a key. A very peculiar key in fact, it was twisted in all sorts of directions, Karrah didn't even know where it ended. she could only tell that it was a key because of the teeth on it. setting that aside she reached in again and found the vial at the bottom of the case. bringing the key and vial over she set the key down, grabbed some sugar off of the plate, and filled the vial with it. Shaking it vigorously she pulled the stopper off, smeared, and rubbed the resulting liquid all over Tsiriu's arms and legs and back.

"Thanks Karrah, thank you so much. I can take it from here. Let's just relax for a bit." Tsiriu said, propping himself up against Karrah.

Wrapping her arms around Tsiriu, she picked up the key and murmured into his ear "Tsiriu, what is this?"

"I found it when I was making the foundation for my house. It was buried. I cleaned it and kept it safe in that bag. I'll show you the cave I found it in tomorrow." Tsiriu explained, his voice now stronger and louder, even if only by a little.

"ooh," Karrah said excitedly, "a cave? i always loved to explore things." running a finger along the key she rapidly got confused and felt a little dizzy from trying to figure out all the twists and curves of that key. Leaning up against Tsiriu a little bit more she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Heh, I've tried shrinking that key once. I passed out and it didn't even shrink a tiny, tiny bit." Tsiriu laughed, pushing a stray piece of hair out of Karrah's face.

Giggling, Karrah reached up, grabbed Tsiriu's hand, and linked it with her own. Staring into his eyes, she tried to probe him a little, see into his soul, as another might say. What she saw scared her half to death. She saw immense pain, suffering, hate, anger, everything, it was so horrible that she had to wrench her eyes away with a gasp. Looking down at the floor, she found she was panting

"Karrah?" Tsiriu queried, seeing her head snap away. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said bringing herself back up to look Tsiriu in the eyes and smiled, "Nothing at all dear," but there was something wrong, she had seen more than Tsiriu's pain in those eyes, she had seen something far, far, worse, something as bad as the end of their very world.

"Karrah, something is wrong. You said yourself, I'm so good at reading people it's scary." he said, looking her deep in the eyes. "Please tell me so I can help."

"Tsiriu, it's nothing, you just reminded me of something that happened a long time ago, it wasn't bad or anything, it just surprised me how much you reminded me of it." Looking him back in the eye she added "and i don't always need your help, I'm a big girl you know, but i do love you." trailing off with her last sentence, she kissed him.

"I never said you always need my help. And I love you too Karrah, very much." Tsiriu replied after the kiss ended. Feeling better, he stood up and picked up the pile of shrunken stuff. "Come on, let's get going. It'll take a while to set everything up."

"I know, you just act like it a little that's all." Getting up she helped Tsiriu carefully put everything into a few plastic bags, keeping her guitar in a separate one all by itself, they loaded it up and walked back to his cabin. upon getting there, Karrah walked inside and set everything down where Tsiriu told her to.

"Well, you know where your room is, now let's get everything big again. Just let me make a little energy drink. I'll be shaking soon after I drink it so don't worry. And by shaking, I mean the floor will shake. That's how much raw ATP is in this drink. Tastes nasty, but it works amazingly well." Tsiriu said, going into the kitchen. "This stuff will perk you up more then thirty pounds of raw sugar and five gallons of coffee."

Bracing herself slightly with the door handle, Karrah asked "What is ATP? It's not a drug is it?"

"Not really. It's what your body turns sugar into so it can get energy out of the sugar. Ingesting it as raw ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, really shaves some time off of the energy retrieval process." Tsiriu explained, cringing at the sheer strength of the smell.

Karrah managed to get a whiff of it from across the room and nearly fainted, she wondered how that smell compared with the smell of the concoction Tsiriu had made the day before. "Ah, I see," she murmured as Tsiriu took a drink and the floor started shaking.

"Ahhh, now that's the stuff!" Tsiriu said, laughing wildly. "Now, to resize your stuff!" he said, his hands moving so fast they were a solid blob of color

Karrah stared in amazement at Tsiriu with her eyes open and her mouth agape, the ground had been shaking so violently she had fallen on the floor. she was very, truly, shocked.

After a few moments, Karrah's stuff was arranged in neat piles, all at their original size. "There we go. That stuff is the nastiest stuff you can ever taste. You could eat crap and it'd taste better!"

Staring at Tsiriu peculiarly she shook her head and sat down on her bed strumming her guitar, "Tsiriu, you really, need, to calm down, go drink some water or something, your really hyper."

"I'm already back to normal. Notice the floor isn't shaking? I just feel like I've had some coffee, that's all." Tsiriu said, hugging her. "Sorry if I scared you. Now, let's get this mess straightened out."

"You didn't scare me Hun, you just worried me," and taking her things and rearranging her room close to how it was at her own home she flopped on her bed again. "Hey Tsiriu, can you get that book that you told me about?"

"Oh yeah, it's right here. It's got quite a bit of complicated math; I just ignore that stuff. Most of it is for aiming the attacks that move like thrown rocks or grenades." Tsiriu said, sitting on her bed right next to her. "Come on, the walls look a little bare, seeing they're just drywall. I did say we were gonna go shopping for this room. Let's do that tomorrow though, it's getting a bit late. Good night Karrah."


	7. The Cave

"Good Night Hun," she replied setting the book down on her bed and walking up to Tsiriu, wrapping her arms around his neck she leaned up and kissed him, "I love you," she whispered, and clicked her guitar light on, so that she could read her newfound book.

"I love you too Karrah. Don't read for too long. I'm gonna take a quick walk and check up on the generator. Power's been a little messed up lately." Tsiriu said, returning the kiss.

"Okay," Karrah replied absently from her bed, "be careful." Flipping to what seemed like the first page, she looked at the letters to find that they were scribbled in an almost incomprehensible scrawl, she saw a hand movement underneath the writing, she followed the hand movements and used the main commanding word that Tsiriu had taught her, and to her amazement, the letters and symbols melted and reshaped themselves into a readable text.

Tsiriu walked out towards the small ravine nearby. He saw a small, purplish glow near the generator, and snuck over as stealthily as he could. "Well, what the?"

Lying in her bed Karrah heard the steady crunch of feet and the breaking of twigs as Tsiriu walked around the side of the cabin towards where she thought the generator was. Hearing the footsteps fade she forced her concentration back to the book. "To move objects, make a fist, but extend the index and middle finger and make them joined. Move the two fingers up, and curve to the right while going down, and move them again in a backwards 'B' shape ending at the top of where the first line was made, the top should be pointing at the object you wish to move, then with your fingers, simply point the object in the direction you want."

Tsiriu leaped back as a strange translucent blue shape slashed at him with what looked like a sword. Drawing a small amount of energy, he shot several solid black bolts at the watery specter, trying vainly to subdue it.

Meanwhile Karrah was vainly attempting to get the movements down and move or at least levitate her clock of the top of her bedside table, but when it shuddered slightly Karrah got so happy that the started to clap, and subsequently threw her clock off the table, dangling there by the cord only.

"Why am I using darkness? Water is weak against Fire!" Tsiriu said to himself, conjuring up a small, dense ball of fire in his hand.

As Karrah picked up her clock, and made sure it still worked, she sat back down to try it again, but halfway through the movement, she heard an odd rushing sound, sort of like when the wind is rushing past you, but in her head. The noise grew louder, as it swelled in volume, it felt as though Karrah's head was being swelled as well, as if pumped with helium, it got to the point where she could no longer take it, as if her head were to pop like a balloon, and she collapsed on her bed in a dead faint.

Releasing the ball of flame, he bound the sprite to a small piece of jasper and took it with him. He completely forgot to check the generator. Feeling cold, he began to jog towards the advanced tree house. Noticing Karrah unconscious, he went through the motions for an awakening Psynergy fairly quickly. "KARRAH! Are you all right?

Karrah's eyes fluttered open to find Tsiriu's face hovering inches from hers, concern tattooed on every crease of his face. Moaning slightly from the receding headache she had, she asked, "Tsiriu, what happened?"

"You tell me! I came back in from a really weird thing at the generator to find you unconscious! What Psynergy were you trying to learn?" Tsiriu said, hugging Karrah tight. His voice shook slightly.

Feeling that warm, comforting feeling by Tsiriu being so concerned, Karrah hugged him tightly back, shaking him slightly so that he didn't break down. "Hun, I was trying to learn move, or something like it, I was trying to move my clock and when it moved a little, I got excited and sort of threw it, about as far as the cord would let it go, when I put it back, I heard this weird noise in my head, and fainted. I'm okay now though, the headache is gone and other than feeling slightly disoriented, I feel fine okay?"

"Alright. Let me see that page, many Psynergies are compound ones, in other words, this book explains exactly how to go about every step. Learning a Psynergy too advanced can be fatal." Tsiriu said, his voice strengthening a bit. "The ones in the back are the individual Psynergies. This book was written backwards, should've told you that."

"Backwards? Is that why when I opened it I couldn't read a single letter?" she asked, thinking back to how it originally looked.

"Yeah. This book is written in a language from long before even the Anemos citadel was designed. A few hundred million years ago. That book has Psynergies in it that were forbidden long ago. Many of them could kill an expert just because they tried to learn it." Tsiriu said, reading the text. "You were trying to learn how to meld foes together painfully. Very difficult. I can barely read it."

"WHAT?" Karrah exploded, "I could have sworn that it said move!"

"That's the first step. Moving the opponents next to each other." Tsiriu explained, turning to the actual Move Psynergy.

"Oh..." Karrah murmured, shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts that she might have killed herself. She clung to Tsiriu as he got up to leave, "no," she murmured again, "don't leave, stay with me a while."

"I wasn't planning too Karrah. I just need to switch to backup power. I'll be right outside the door, you'll be able to see me." Tsiriu said, walking to the panel just outside the door. He started fiddling with a few circuits. The power suddenly went out and flicked back on again. "There we go, now we'll use up the battery while the generator starts going again. And it's getting late Karrah, you should really get some sleep."

"I know, but I want to be with you," she said resting her head against her pillow, stifling a yawn she asked, "Will the generator automatically start when the battery dies?"

"It's got to get enough velocity for electricity to actually be made. And the battery's got enough charge in it to last several weeks. I think we'll be fine. I take it you'd like me to stay through the night?" Tsiriu said, sitting down on a nearby chair.

Stretching and yawning again Karrah said, "No, you don't have to if you don't want to, I don't want to keep you away from your own good nights sleep, you've been working all day, all I did was cook."

"I could just sleep in here you know. After all, my bed is essentially a raised air mattress." Tsiriu explained, standing up. "And you did help me get back to my feet remember? Besides, I've still got enough energy to stay up for a few days and still be able to function normally. Can't say I'd look too good though."

"Well then get some sleep, we're going shopping tomorrow, remember?" Karrah asked him, getting up, Karrah walked over to Tsiriu, hugged him, and gave him a long kiss on the lips, and she shivered as he ran his fingers up her spine.

"Alright. I'll go and get my mattress. I'll be right back." Tsiriu said, smiling slightly, blushing just as much. He walked out of the room and across the small treehouse/cabin.

Wondering at what point Karrah admitted she did want him to stay, Karrah pushed it out of her mind and tacked up a poster of a paintball gun she owned, she wasn't completely lazy after all.

Tsiriu brought in his mattress, still inflated. He laid it down next to Karrah's bed and dragged in his blankets and everything. "Good night Karrah."

Leaning over the side of her bed Karrah kissed Tsiriu and whispered in his ear, "Good night, I love you," and after grabbing her sleeping clothes, she crawled under her covers, changed, and lay down on her stomach. Draping her arm over the side she reached around until she found Tsiriu's hand and clasped it within her own.

---

The morning came rather quickly, and with it, the promise of adventure. The sun's light slowly began to pierce the night's darkness, waking Tsiriu gently. "Karrah, come on, I'd like to show you something, wake up and get changed, hurry or we'll miss it!"

Karrah groaned and rolled over, forcing herself awake; she rolled back so that she was facing Tsiriu, who was already dressed and ready to go. Glaring up at him for waking her up so early, she sat up, and pulled on some day clothes. Walking into the bathroom she grabbed her toothbrush and stared at her reflection through groggy eyes '_I really need a haircut'_ she though as she brushed her teeth.

"You don't need to brush your teeth, it's gonna come soon! Come on Karrah, you'll love it!" Tsiriu urged, hearing the bristles as he walked past. He went out and pulled a couple of bikes through a small trapdoor in the ground nearby.

Rapidly finishing her teeth, she grabbed a comb, a jacket, and was trying to get her hair into some semblance of order when she ran outside to find Tsiriu with three bikes that had seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Come on Karrah! I'm gonna take you to my favorite spot to relax in the mornings." Tsiriu said, mounting his bike. "It's only a couple minute's ride."

"Okay," she said, the cold blast of air waking her up, jumping on the bike, she looked to Tsiriu to let him know she was ready, he nodded and sped off on his bike, Karrah had to pedal hard to keep up, about fifteen minutes later, over a bumpy woodland trail, Tsiriu stopped on a high ridge and vaulted off the bike, Karrah came skidding to a stop next to him and started to say "So much for a fe-," her sentence getting cutoff by the view she got.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Tsiriu said, looking out over the ocean, the sunlight reflecting off of the water. The sky, a bright pink, was cloudless and hopeful

Crawling into Tsiriu's lap, she was just starting to get comfortable when the tide rapidly began drawing out, towards the sea. With a slight note of haste in his voice,

Tsiriu yelled, "quick! Karrah, get on the bike! We need to get back now!"

Tsiriu picked Karrah up and ran up the hill, his heels digging into the soft dirt.

Too little time to get on bikes, TIME TO GO! Tsiriu thought as he picked Karrah up.

What was that? Karrah thought as Tsiriu jogged up a hill and down. Once they were safe he set her down and they walked back to the cabin.

"Alchemic disturbance. This place is still unstable, even though the four known Lighthouses are lit. Wait, known! That's it! There were two unknown elements when the lighthouses were built, and they held the power of the unknown! Come on, we need to get ready to go to that cave. But first: breakfast." Tsiriu exclaimed, panting.

Nodding, Karrah moved towards the kitchen when Tsiriu blocked her way. "I'll cook, you go lay down, watch TV in the den." Shrugging silently, she headed to the den and laid on the couch, which she soon found was more comfortable than anything she'd ever felt. She turned on the TV and quickly fell asleep.

Tsiriu went out to the hidden trapdoor behind the small hut, opened it to reveal a room like an over large refrigerator. Grabbing a couple steaks, he closed and locked the door, shaking off some ice from his clothing, and went back to the kitchen to cook.

Standing over the stove, he put several herbs and spices, most clear, into the meat, and more then that unknown to most people. After a few minutes, the steaks were done, as were the onions and peppers cooked with them. Setting the meals on the table, Tsiriu went to wake Karrah. Do I really want to wake her? She seems so peaceful, so vulnerable, and so beautiful. Still, the fate of the world... "Karrah, wakey wakey, lunch, since it's currently 1:15. Come on, before it gets cold."

Groaning and sitting up, Karrah sniffed at the air and opened her eyes. Swinging her legs over the side of the couch, Karrah pulled her plate towards her and yawned. "How long was I asleep?" she asked while picking up a knife and fork.

"A while. We got back around 7:00. It's about 1:15 now." Tsiriu said, sitting down. "Want a coke?" he said, opening the minifridge hidden under the table. "Yes, there are a lot of hidden things aound here."

Nodding Karrah smiled at Tsiriu's assumption of what she was going to ask. He was right of course, but Karrah thought it was cute. "You're going to have to show me where what is, so I can get used to this."

"Of course. Mostly it's just the cooking stuff. Feel the bottom of the table, there should be a crack. Push just past that crack and lower your hand slowly, BAM, there's some drinks." Tsiriu said, walking her through it. "Don't lower your hand too hard or fast though, I haven't finished reinforcing those additions yet."

Reaching underneath the table, Karrah felt the crack, and pushed, she lowered her hand a little, and felt something cold and metallic fall into her hand, bringing it up; she saw a coke sitting in her palm.

There's a lot of stuff like that. Speaking of that, I'll have to set up your bathroom stuff like soap and shampoo and stuff. I had company a lot, but they normally stay a day or two, rarely more then that. Mostly hiding from gang bastards." Tsiriu said, his eye twitching at the word gang.

With a raised eyebrow at Tsiriu, Karrah stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth. "Gang?" Another eye twitch from Tsiriu. "What are we talking about here?"

"I also offer a separate room to people trying to hide from gangs, but only if they have done nothing to deserve being chased. Besides, several of my friends have been killed, in the most, humiliating way, by gangs for no reason at all." Tsiriu confessed, looking downwards. "I offer them relative safety, but they know that if they threaten me or any other guests at my home, they are kicked out as quickly as they were taken in."

Getting up and walking over to Tsiriu, she knelt down in front of him and picked his head up. "Tsiriu, I'm sorry," that was all she could say, she didn't know what else to do, she loved him and he was in pain. Sitting next to him, she hugged him, and nestled her face into his neck.

"Don't be sorry for something you did not do Karrah, besides, I wouldn't change anything about my life. IA person's past is what makes them the person they are now." Tsiriu said, looking up. "You already know the most painful part of my life Karrah, and you have already gotten me past it. I will be fine. Besides, ever since I met you, things within me have, reawakened."

"What things?" she asked, climbing into his lap.

"The vast majority of them have no name, nor any description possible. I could not care for others before, I had lost most of who I was." Tsiriu explained, holding the warm form of Karrah close to him, as if he was afraid of loosing her. "I feared nothing, and it was like, like I was no longer human. I was devoid of emotions of any kind. Just, empty, lonely. But now, I have but one fear, and my humanity returned." he added, a tiny smile working its way across his soft facial features.

"What fear is that?" she asked, pulling herself as close to him as she could.

"Losing you. You who has given me so much hope, and something I haven't had in a very, very long time. A friend. Nay, something more then that." Tsiriu said, now outright smiling, even in his eyes. "Though I know not the name, I know what it feels like." he added, placing his head upon Karrah's gently, feeling her breath upon his shoulder. "Come, we have a cave to explore." he whispered, reminding her of their adventure.

Very reluctantly, Karrah removed her head from his shoulder, looking in his eyes; she leaned up and kissed him quickly, then sat down and finished her lunch.

"Are you still sad for me Karrah? If so, don't be. True, my life has been rife with sorrow, but so much more happiness, especially of late." Tsiriu said, trying to cheer the young woman up.

"I'm fine, don't worry Tsiriu, I was only sad because you were, I just didn't want to have to get up."

"You didn't have to you know. It's not that hard to move something as light as a meal and a chair."

Karrah shrugged and picked up her plate, carrying it into the kitchen she put it in what she guessed was the sink, it had a drain hole after all. "I know, its just... never mind, anyways, what are we going to do for supplies and whatnot?"

"Don't worry, I always keep at least five packs loaded, just in case. We might be there, a while, so I'll have a pack for food and a separate one for my stuff. And yes, I can carry two and bike. We just need to get our bathing suits and other stuff you'll want to bring. Whatever you want. And don't be afraid to fill another pack: as you can see, I need the workout" Tsiriu said, gesturing towards his stomach, which is growing fat from inaction.

"You sound like a 14 year old girl!" she exclaimed. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes upward, she headed towards her room and grabbed a set of throwing knives, setting them into her pocket, she grabbed her bathing suit and tossed that into one of the packs she would carry.

"I mean that because I need to get my muscle back. The world is changing, and quickly Karrah. There will be battle soon. Those icy-skinned people who attacked you before you moved in are not from this world, and could only have gotten in from the Gaia Rift." Tsiriu said, laughing. "And you pick what to bring. I'm only bringing my swords, bow, quiver, guitar, lots of food, camping stuff, roller blades for quick movement in tight spaces, lock picks, and some alchemic components, just in case we need some potions or Psynergy crystals." he added, opening the four bags he was bringing. "It only weighs about a hundred and fifty pounds though. Anything else you'd like? And yes, many alchemic components can be very heavy, even though they take up little space."

"Only?" she voiced to herself aloud. "And hey! I'll have you know I passed chemistry with an A! I know that small things can weigh a lot!"

"Calm down Karrah, and I mean beyond what chemistry ingredients can. One crystal of alchemic hematite can weigh up to seventy pounds, depending on the quality. The better quality, the more the weight. Alchemy is much different then chemistry, although they do share some of the same principles, particularly the Conservation of Mass. And yes, only a hundred and fifty pounds. That's really nothing, considering to lift some of the boulders I'd need to be able to physically carry several hundreds of pounds more than that." Tsiriu explained.

Walking along the path that Tsiriu was walking on, Karrah saw Tsiriu struggling somewhat with the packs, she wanted to offer to take one, but she knew he wouldn't let her; he was 'in training'. Smiling at him, she caught up to him, and helped him up the hill.

Panting at the top Tsiriu flashed a smile at her and continued on. Shaking her head at him, she had no choice but to follow

"You want a break Karrah?" Tsiriu said, waiting at the other side of the hill.

"No, I'm fine, I just thought it was cute how you keep pushing yourself." she replied, panting very slightly.

"Like I said, I'll have need of increased muscle strength soon." came his serious answer. "And thanks for the compliment!" he added, smiling.

"How much farther?" Karrah asked smiling back at him.

"Not that far, only about half a mile. Wanna race?" he said, balancing the backpacks on the center of his back.

Karrah looked at the four bulging packs on Tsiriu's back, and the one pack on hers. "Sure I'll race."

"And no, the packs won't slow me that much. Don't worry, this is quite a fair match," he said, readying himself. "Three, two, one, GO!" he exclaimed, gaining speed quickly.

Karrah found it surprisingly hard to keep up with Tsiriu, but she still hadn't reached her limit. Adding speed, she slowly passed Tsiriu and beat him to the cave by a foot and a half. Sliding in, she put her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath.

"Heh, not bad!" Tsiriu said, slowly returning to his normal breathing. "I'll need to teach you ho I breathe when I fight, it's too much of a bother for normal breathing, but it's extremely efficient," he added, massaging Karrah's back and sore calves.

"Okay," she said batting his hand away and hugging him. "Shall we explore?"

"Sure thing. Come on." Tsiriu replied, smiling.

Walking into the cave hand in hand with Tsiriu, Karrah got the weird feeling that they were descending. When they came upon a hot spring. Ignoring the stench of sulfur, Karrah looked at Tsiriu and asked "Are we able to swim in that?"

"All hot springs smell like sulfur, don't worry." Tsiriu replied, looking around. "You can change here if you want, I'm gonna go set up where we'll be sleeping."

Nodding as Tsiriu walked a ways further into the cave, Karrah backed off into a little side cavern, it just felt weird changing out in the open. After changing, she sunk slowly into the spring and sighed in contentment. Then blushed furiously as Tsiriu walked in, his muscles on his legs and arms sticking out a bit.

"What's with the blushing? You saw me shirtless when I came to pick you up from your house, remember?" Tsiriu said, laughing.

"I know," she replied, she still blushed furiously. Sinking underneath the water until her nose was barely under the water, she looked at Tsiriu.

Tsiriu gently pulled her up so that her head was above the water. "What's gotten into you today? How come you're so nervous Karrah?"

"I don't know," she admitted, looking down. Karrah sniffed a little

"You alright?" Tsiriu said, now concerned.

Blinking furiously, she looked up at Tsiriu and nodded.

_Okay, I'm a little freaked out now... _Tsiriu thought, looking at her funny. "You don't seem okay. Is something wrong?"

"I... I just keep thinking, that this is too good to be true," she murmured, trying to keep the tears from flowing out, "I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and this'll all be a dream, and I'll be back at my house, with my dad. The last time I had had someone care for me like this, it was done as a joke, to mock me... and I keep trying to tell myself that this isn't the same."

"Don't worry Karrah, this isn't a dream. I'm not trying to mock you, I promise. I've, uh, kind of been thinking, the same, the same thing." Tsiriu replied, holding the warm little form of Karrah tight, almost like he was afraid of losing her.

Looking up at Tsiriu with tears in her eyes, Karrah buried her face in his chest and held him tight as well. Looking up at Tsiriu, he looked down, and they were kissing again. Then by some trick of fate, she fell backwards and pulled Tsiriu with her, and they were like that, laying underneath the water kissing, tongues probing each other, telling each other they loved them without words, but by touch.

Tsiriu could no longer stay underwater after several minutes of kissing Karrah, his lungs burning with the need for air. Pulling her up with him, he kicked off the bottom of the spring, bursting through the surface, landing on the hard stone with his back.

The landing blasted the rest of the air out of him, and he had to take a moment to recover his breath.

Karrah rolled off of him and looked him in eye, kissing him, she climbed back into spring

Following Karrah, he slipped into the spring, hardly making a ripple, not in the water at least. His fingers upon Karrah's knees sent shivers through her spine.

Climbing up into his lap, she buried her face in his neck again. Feeling the warmth radiating off his body she suddenly heard a _Click Click_ behind Tsiriu.

"Whoever is ruining our moment is gonna find how painful Darkness can be. Oh, it's just a punch ant." Tsiriu said, turning around.

Quickly weaving her hands in the air to cast flare, though she had no idea how that would help, she cast it and to her surprise, a giant sheet of white-hot flame roasted the ant to a cinder, burning Tsiriu in the process.

"WHOA!" Tsiriu called out, in the middle of casting his own Psynergy. "Where'd you learn Heat Wave?"

"Uh, I thought that was flare.." Karrah's voice trailed off, her staring at her hand in amazement and confusion. Realizing she had burned Tsiriu by the stench of burning hair, she looked up at him and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine Karrah." Tsiriu said, dunking his hair into the water. "I needed a haircut anyway."

"Then explain that," she said pointing at his sunburn on his cheek

"I practically dived into it Karrah, it's my fault." Tsiriu said, chuckling.

"but... but..." her face turning a shade of red, Karrah submerged underwater and blew bubbles

Tsiriu reached in and pulled her up back on top of his lap. "But what Karrah? You didn't see me dive forward? It was just a little bad timing on my part."

"I know it's just..." she trailed off, looking at him with her eyes trying to give an answer she dropped her head again

"It's alright, I'm the one who messed up. Besides, it's from me trying to do a Psynergy I haven't tried yet." Tsiriu said, opening the book and pointing out the Liquefier Psynergy.

Karrah looked at the book and saw the strange markings spell out 'liquefy'. Feeling better, she hugged Tsiriu.

Tsiriu suddenly sank underneath the water, bubbles coming up.

Falling forwards into the water Karrah came back up spluttering and glaring at Tsiriu. "What'd you do that for?" splashing him she dove underwater and grabbed his ankle and pulled up

Tsiriu fell under again, this time holding his breath. The water flashed black, and Tsiriu came back up, now holding a strange monster in his hand.

Blinking Karrah backed away and eyed the monster carefully. "Did... did you make that Tsiriu?"

"No, but I killed it. It's called a punch ant. Strangely enough, the Legendary Sages all began their journeys by getting ambushed by one." Tsiriu explained, tossing it onto dry land. "They taste pretty good, I must admit."

Blinking yet again, Karrah stared at Tsiriu strangely, then, laughing, she dove forward and tackled him

"Hey!" he said playfully as he held Karrah above the water.

Pushing Tsiriu underwater, she jumped out of the pool and hid in a corner.

"What? Was it something I said?" Tsiriu asked nervously.

Giggling quietly, Karrah tossed a rock high, and laughed when Tsiriu jumped a mile high when it 'plunked' into the water

"Not funny Karrah. I still don't know what else is lurking around here. The monsters from the old world were all bound deep within Weyard when the Elemental Lighthouses were lit. I don't know what else has awoken." Tsiriu said, tossing the rock casually over his shoulder.

"Sorry," Karrah said sheepishly getting out of her hiding place, she sat down on the edge of the pool near Tsiriu and trailed her feet in the water.

"Come on, why don't we see if that key fits the lock on that door I found earlier?" Tsiriu said, trying to cheer her up with a new adventure.

"In a minute," she said pushing herself off the ledge and landing on Tsiriu, feeling close to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, meanwhile, her momentum carried them down underneath the water.

Tsiriu kicked at the bottom of the spring, his lungs ready to scream. Bursting out from the spring, Karrah still in his arms, he began gasping for air, still trying to kiss the relaxed Karrah.

Still leaning up against Tsiriu she looked up and said, "Sorry Hun, I didn't think we were down for that long," kissing him again, she tried to get closer to him.

"That's alright Karrah, I was hoping to find out how deep it was anyway." Tsiriu said, wrapping his arms around the somewhat smaller girl.

Blushing even more and giggling, she curled up again in his lap and leaned against his chest. "I love you," she murmured quietly, wrapping her arms around him, she closed her eyes and softly fell against him.

"Und leibe ich dich" he replied, resting his head gently on Karrah's shoulder.

Feeling very relaxed by the warm water and Tsiriu's caring touch, she could only manage to murmur, "What does that mean..."

"And I love you." Tsiriu replied, whispering into her ear.

"Mmmmm..." she murmured as she got shivers down her spine. Turning so she could face him, she kissed him lightly on the lips, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

While Tsiriu and Karrah were kissing, he slowly ran his hand up her back, his instincts telling him that he probably should.

Karrah got shivers all the way up and down her spine and she moaned a little when he did. Opening her mouth a little, she felt Tsiriu's tongue enter her mouth and massage it softly.

Tsiriu fell backwards again, only this time on the towel they were going to use when they had lunch. Blushing, he noticed that Karrah was on the top again.

Unwrapping her arms Karrah ran a hand through Tsiriu's hair and kissed him again.

Tsiriu rolled over, putting himself on top of Karrah. In doing so, he knocked down both packs; Karrah's was still open from when she grabbed her bathing suit.

To Karrah's utter horror, her clothes slid out, and a black, silk, laced thong slid out.

Tsiriu didn't notice until the thong was right next to Karrah's head. Breaking the kiss, he picked it up. "This would be yours I presume?"

Turning the brightest shade of red Karrah nodded and looked away embarrassed.

"How come you're blushing?" Tsiriu asked, truly clueless.

"I don't know, I just... I don't know why Tsiriu, it's just embarrassing I guess, but put it away, we can worry about that later."

"Alright." Tsiriu said, stuffing the thong back into Karrah's bag. After putting the rest of the stuff back in, he closed it and made sure it wouldn't open.

"Okay," she tried kissing him again, but Tsiriu moved suddenly and she ended up kissing next to his eye, he tried kissing her, and she moved in embarrassment and he

Missed as well. Getting very embarrassed, Karrah slid out from under Tsiriu, and sank into the pool, taking a breath; she completely submerged herself yet again.

"Alright." Tsiriu said under his breath, taking a look at the clock on his phone. "Wow. It's almost midnight." Tsiriu said out loud, finally noticing how hungry he was.

"You hungry Karrah? We might as well have that punch ant, unless you want something else."

Meanwhile Karrah heard Tsiriu, but only blew bubbles in answer

"Come on Karrah, what's wrong? You're not acting at all like yourself." Tsiriu said, really getting concerned.

Tsiriu pulled her out gently. "Karrah, please tell me what's wrong."

"I'm just embarrassed," she managed while wiping her face, "I just felt so close to you, and then my pack falling open ruined it all."

"How did that ruin it? Just because of what fell out? You know I don't really care what you wear, just so long as you're still you on the inside." Tsiriu said, brushing away the tears on her left cheek.

"Besides, it's not like I wouldn't have seen it in the laundry or anything." Tsiriu said, still trying to cheer up his newest, and really only, girlfriend.

"I know, I'm still me Tsiriu, and it wasn't the thong, it just ruined it all, we were so close... and now look at us, we're sitting her arguing." With that final statement, her lower lip trembled again, and some tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Shhh, don't cry Karrah." Tsiriu said, placing his cheek against hers. "Besides, I'm not sure I could have gone on much longer anyway, at least, not before my stomach ruins it all by taking down the entire cavern!" he added, laughing slightly. "I'm sure you're hungry too."

"Yeah, I'm a little hungry, what'd you pack to eat?"

"Well, there's that punch ant I took down, I'd probably have to make it into a stew, but I brought the spices so I'd be able to pull it off. I've also got burgers. I didn't expect us to spend more then a night here really." Tsiriu answered, cuddling up to Karrah once more.

Cuddling back up to Tsiriu on the towel, she kissed him and was about to roll on top of him when her stomach growled. Turning red again and laughing, she said, "Why don't you make that stew? I've never had an ant before..."

"Alright Karrah. Why don't you get into some dry clothes. We should get some sleep when we're done. And just so you know, it can get pretty cold in here in the early morning." Tsiriu said, making a decent sized fire.

"I will in a while Hun," she said while sinking back into the hot spring, floating on her back, she let the small tiny currents spin her about, feeling relaxed by the heat and the little ripples the water caused on her back.

_Wow, I never noticed how, nice, she looks. The face, the body, its all so prefect! OW! Might wanna focus on the cooking then the peeping you idiot_. Tsiriu thought, glancing over his shoulder.

Tsiriu shook his hand, his pointer turning red. Alright, just gotta let it sit. She's so beautiful! And the way the moonlight reflects off of her and the spring around her, it's amazing! He thought, setting up the plates and towel.

Leaning against one of the walls of the spring, Karrah heard the clink of the plates and cracked an eye open, seeing Tsiriu piling the stew on the plates, she noticed her eye wandering over Tsiriu's body. _'His body... It's so handsome, **he's** so handsome, what am I doing, a girl like me, with a guy like that? He's so handsome... Karrah, NO, stop thinking that, he loves you, and he is perfectly fine with being with you, imperfections or not.'_ Shaking her head to clear her thoughts properly, she stepped out of the spring and grabbed a towel from her pack, quickly drying her hair, she speed dried the rest of her body, and wrapped the towel around her shoulders for warmth.

"H-hey Karrah, dinner's done." Tsiriu stuttered, trying to keep his eyes still.

"Okay," she called from the corner where she was drying off, wrapping the towel around her waist, she walked over to where the plates and blanket was, and sat next to Tsiriu. Poking her stew tentatively, as if afraid the ant was still alive somewhere, she speared a chunk of stew on her fork and popped it in her mouth.

"Like it?" Tsiriu said, letting his other emotions come out to smother the embarrassment.

"Yes I do like it," she said trying to ignore the crunching in her mouth, it wasn't bad to her actually, the crunchiness was just something she's never had in a stew before. Linking her hand with Tsiriu's, she leaned against him and closed her eyes.

Tsiriu's mind briefly went back to when Karrah's backpack fell open, and to what was inside. "Hey Karrah, you said you'd explain about what fell out. Not to pressure you, of course."

Karrah blinked and said, "Well, what do you want to know?"

"You were upset about the thong. How come?" Tsiriu asked.

Sighing, she detached herself from Tsiriu and picked up another piece of stew, studying it. "I really don't know why Hun, I was afraid of something, I just don't know what really, maybe afraid of you judging me, afraid of you getting the wrong idea... I don't know, I was really confused at the time."

"Oh. Don't worry Hun, I'm not gonna judge you." Tsiriu said, smiling slightly.

Nodding her head as in she knew what he meant, Karrah felt suddenly ravenous, eating the food quickly, without trying to look like a pig, Karrah ate and hoped to god that Tsiriu wasn't watching her

Tsiriu had disappeared, and the key with him. "GOD DAMN IT!" a tiny squawk yelled from the area of the stew bowl. "I got so nervous I used Psynergy on the key without trying or noticing!"

Peering down at the very miniature Tsiriu, she scooped him up with a spoon and held him up to her eye level. "Where's the Key?" she asked.

"It's in my hand. Wait, what? The Psynergy worked! But, the key, it changed! It's blood red now, and there's markings of binding and sealing and sleep eternal. This key is for something best left locked." Tsiriu said in awe.

"What do you mean, something best left locked?" Karrah asked somewhat apprehensively

"These are incredibly powerful marks, no one adept could possibly imbue these. And typically when the key is forged with blood, it's gonna unlock something not-too-good." Tsiriu explained, performing the Psynergy that brings him back to normal size.

"Uh-huh... so do you want to open it?" she asked

"Hold on, there's a second key in my pocket now." Tsiriu said, pulling out the new key. It's made of a brighter red metal, almost pink, and is covered in marks of freezing and preserving, and deeper in, continued life.

"What's that?" she asked in wonderment of how he has so much stuff

"It just popped into my pocket when I went back to normal size. It's another key." Tsiriu explained, wondering the same thing himself. _Why do I always get the weird stuff?_

"What weird stuff?" Karrah asked looking at Tsiriu questioningly

"Huh? Hey, since when did you know Mind Read?" Tsiriu queried, looking into Karrah's eyes.

"Mind Read? Hun what are you talking about? You just said that you wanted to know why you got all the weird stuff

"I thought that, I didn't say it Karrah."

"You didn't? Weird, I can read minds now! Think something Tsiriu, I want to see if I can hear it."

'Well this is new.' Tsiriu's mind whispered.

"I barely heard that, I couldn't even understand it. I guess mind reading is just like speaking. If someone thinks something softly, I can't hear it. Can you Mind Read?"

"Nope. Not yet at least. Dark adepts can, generally, branch across each element, but ones that aren't darkness type Psynergies are extremely difficult."

"SWEET!" Karrah exclaimed excitedly, "I mean I don't want to sit here and brag, I just thought you could do any Psynenergy there ever was."

"No, no one can. Not alone at least. There are many Psynergies that require anywhere from two, to a hundred adepts to use. So far, the highest one used was eight, and that was to imprison Alex and freeze the casters... Karrah. I know what's in this cave. Find an extremely cold patch of stone." Tsiriu said, slowing down at the last bit.

Frowning, she dried off and dressed into her clothes and walked around looking for a cold patch of stone

"Inside of that room, there will be a giant stone of ice, with eight people frozen within. This key, the not blood forged one, releases them from their cryogenic stasis."

Tsiriu called out. "OW! Found Alex's prison," he said, healing a burn on his left hand.

"Oh, Okay," looking harder, Karrah felt along the floor, and stopped when her hand hit an icy, cold patch. On the bottom of the hot spring. Trying to get back up she realized her hand was stuck to the floor, and the spring was so deep she couldn't lift her head above the surface, panicking she started kicking around, but to no avail, her body was sinking. Clutching at straws, she frantically yelled in her mind 'TISIRU! HELP ME!'

Diving in, Tsiriu quickly cut that section of stone out of the wall with a smaller version of Beam. He pulled Karrah up towards the surface, trying to make it before they both drowned. The stone was incredibly heavy however, and it was a very small piece.

Passing out on the way up, Karrah's head lolled to one side as the water pushed against it.

Seeing her head fall, Tsiriu began to fear for her. Now fueled by that fear, Tsiriu pushed his body beyond its limit, his muscles making his bones crack and his joints pop. Finally, after what seemed like easily seventy feet of swimming upwards, they broke the surface and almost flew out of the water. Coughing himself, he desperately began CPR.

"Live damnit Karrah!" he cried out between coughs and blowing air into Karrah's lungs.

Coughing up water, Karrah pushed Tsiriu's face away and ran into a corner, promptly throwing up the water, stew, and her breakfast.

Turning around, she saw Tsiriu's worried look, "I'm fine," she said, trying to get the heavy piece of rock off her hand. "A little help here?" she asked

"Hold on to my shoulder tight." Tsiriu said, closing his eyes and putting one hand on the pinkish key, the other on the stone.

Gripping his shoulder, she squeezed her eyes shut and expected some form of pain.

The key began to glow, and the strange stone dissipated, only to reappear on the key, making it larger, but no heavier.

"Thanks babe," she said rubbing her hand. "How do you want to open that room? If any form of reality is down there it'll be filled with water."

"Not necessarily. If my theory is correct, then this key is some sort of incomplete creation. It still needs the stone from the wall and the water in the spring." Tsiriu said, looking at the key.

"Stone from the wall?" she asked, "Which stone in particular?"

"The stone on that wall of the hot spring." Tsiriu answered, examining the new key.

"Oh, I knew that!" she said jokingly, picking up the first key, she started trying to follow the twists and turns, wondering how one could possibly fit that in a keyhole

"Interesting. It doesn't seem to be like a traditional key. Perhaps they're actually insignias of the two groups of Grand Sages, the two groups that worked together to seal Alex and the remaining power of the Golden Sun and the Stone of Sages." Tsiriu mumbled to himself, the blue in his eyes overtaking the entire eye.

"Stone of Sages? I'm so confused, where'd you learn about all of this?" Karrah asked getting up and sitting closer to Tsiriu, she looked at the new key, and compared the new key with the original key.

"I learned it from, I don't know actually. I just kind of, know it. It's like how one knows how to move or speak their native language. You just know how, you don't know why, or how you learned. I think, I know, I am definitely related to one of the Grand Sages, and, I think, you might be as well. No one's ever progressed as quickly as you have since the Grand Sage Jenna, at least, in Fire Psynergy." Tsiriu explained, looking up towards the ceiling, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

"Hm..." she said musing, "but, then how come I don't know all of this history stuff? I mean I know I barely passed any of my history classes, but this sorta seems like something different."

"I. Don't. Know." Tsiriu said, getting lightheaded. "Karrah..." he mumbled as he passed out.

Tsiriu watched as his home was destroyed, vicious creatures, almost demonic looking, battering the city walls. Thousands of Adepts came unto the wall, throwing Psynergy after Psynergy at the attacking monstrosities created through the Stone of Sages. Seeing two figures that resembled him greatly, he flew closer, flew! - And saw that the two figures were his parents! "Mom, dad!" he screamed as their heads were impaled with crossbow bolts as thick as his arm and as long as it. "DAMN YOU ALL!" He yelled, trying to summon up some offensive Psynergy, but to no avail. He blasted awake as the walls came plummeting down to the ground, his back smashing to a right angle of his hips. He realized that he had screamed those last words: "Cernio Peron Hesir Haeslich PROGOURDI!"

"Tsiriu?" Karrah jumped up and ran over to him, shaking him a little, and when he didn't stir, she opened one of his eyelids, only to find that his eyes had rolled into the back of his head. Feeling the fear and pain start to well up in her throat, she tried to fight it back. Instead, she just exploded, before she knew it, her head was on his chest, and she was crying. Clutching at Tisiru's arms, she shook him again, hoping that he'd come back to her. To her suprise, he did.

Tsiriu's eyes opened, the blue now softer then they were before. He didn't get up just yet, put he put his hand on Karrah's back, gently rubbing it in a consoling manner.

Still lacking the energy for speech, he just looked into her eyes, and revisioned what he saw, passing it on to Karrah.

Tears still streaming down her face, Karrah saw what Tsiriu had seen, and it amazed her, hundreds of years ago... Blinking furiously, Karrah wiped her eyes and laid against Tsiriu, still crying slightly

Summoning up some energy he didn't know he had, Tsiriu found his ability to speak. "I won't leave you that easily Karrah, don't worry. Not even those icy blue guys could take me away from you, remember?"

"I know," she said still clutching at him, and crying on his chest

"Shhh..." Tsiriu said, now only able to lay there and rest.

Feeling not only the vision he had, but his exhaustion, Karrah kissed him and climbed off of him. Reaching in her pack, she searched around to the bottom and grabbed a small black, polished onyx container. Opening the top she pulled out a small plastic bag, pulling a pinch of the violet powder that lay inside, she grabbed his drink and poured the powder in. Stirring the cup, she handed it to Tsiriu

Blinking a few times, he finally gave Karrah the idea that he couldn't move just yet. He could swallow, but not move his extremities.

Nodding in understanding, she pulled Tsiriu into her lap, and poured the drink into his mouth.

"Drrrg, that stuff tastes nasty!" Tsiriu said, bolting upwards. "Works really well though! What is that stuff?"

"It's a flower I found, I looked it up and I realized that there's only two bushes of it in the world, so when I tried to go back and get more, I couldn't find it. But I learned that it has amazing healing properties, I don't know for sure but for all I know this could cure AIDs. It's called "Jagerite" but "Jag" for short. You feeling better?"

"Yep. Come on, let's go help the Grand Sages." Tsiriu said, holding out his hand. Helping Karrah up, he dived into the hot spring, found the cold wall, then pressed the heart adorned key to it.

Holding onto Tsiriu's hand, she opened her eyes underwater, and watched as the entire bottom of the spring melted away, it just dissolved. Wondering why they weren't falling into the darkness that had replaced the floor, Karrah swam down and tentatively reached out, when she did, two things happened. Gravity suddenly decided to grab hold and pull them down into whatever was in there. The second thing that happened was that the cavern in which they had fallen suddenly filled with a sea-green light, in which she found a large grouping of crystals.

"Karrah. This, this is the completed key. It's not a key at all." Tsiriu said in wonder, staring at the strange blade that now rested in his hands. "This, this is another version of the ancient Sol Blade. This is the Darkness version, Luna Wing. And look! In each crystal there's an ancient legendary weapon! But, they're all rusted! Pier's Axe, the Sol Blade, Excalibur, and so many more! These are the Crystals of Weyard! This room holds the re-makers of Weyard, the ones who lit the Lighthouses so many ages ago!" Tsiriu said, looking around. "I think I have to reforge the items, and then use them to break open the crystals. I'll need your help to do this however Karrah."

"Okay, what do you need me to do?" she asked still looking around in awe at the entire chamber, the whole thing must have stretched a few football fields' length

"First, I need your help. I'm glad I packed that metal in our bags. Now, we need to make me a forge, smithy hammer, tongs, and a thing to put them all on." Tsiriu, pulling out many, many clumps of strange metal, colors swirling in them all like fog.

"So what do I do?"

"I am going to extract certain compounds out of the metals, and you are going to heat them a little past when they glow blue, then move them into the shapes of the times I described. The leftovers will be used later." Tsiriu said, closing his eyes and begining his work.

Watching as Tsiriu extracted the compounds Karrah began doing the movements for flare, trying to put some power into it, but not enough to roast them both alive, to her suprise, it actually worked, and the metals started to change color

"They've heated enough, mold them." Tsiriu said, making the leftovers collide together, forming a strange, swirling liquid.

"How?" she asked embarassedly

"Just move them like you would fire" Tsiriu said, still focused on the liquid's formation

"Oh, Okay." Concentrating on keeping the metal hot, she thought up a pair of tongs and a hammer, and sort of molded the metal into shape somehow.

Tsiriu's head began to glisten as the sweat began to drip off of his nose. The liquid was now hovering in the air, awaiting its use. "Go get the weapons, one by one, put the on the anvil. When I put the hammer and tongs down, put the weapon back in its place in the crystal and get the next one." Tsiriu said in a monotone voice.

Nodding, Karrah jumped up and ran to the nearest weapon, the one Tsiriu identified as Piers' Axe

Tsiriu let a droplet of the liquid frun down the blade, and another down the handle. Beating the rust off of the blade, he quickly revitalized the legendary weapon.

Tsiriu then dropped the hammer and tongs. Repeating for each weapon, he personally replaced the Sol Blade, careful not to release any of its power.

Sitting down, Karrah stared around the room at the weapons now shined and looking even more deadly, sighing she looked at Tsiriu for instructions on what to do next.

"What happened? Did I not extract enough impurities from the liquid? I could've swo-" The room began to glow red, blue, white, and tan as the crystals began to melt like ice under hot water. "It, it's the Grand Sages!"

Eyes wide, Karrah stared around the room in amazement, and watched as the eight Grand Sages stepped out of their prisons.

For reasons unknown, Karrah stepped forward infront of Tsiriu and spoke in a voice that was not her own

"Welcome, Grand Sages, to the present, you have been sleeping for hundreds of years, and now, it is time for you eight, and the power of the Golden Sun to return, the world is in dire peril, and these two descendants cannot save the world alone."

"Karrah?" Tsiriu said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "No, you're the Wise One. What kind of peril?" he added, his adventuring side taking over.

Looking over her shoulder at Tsiriu, Karrah's mouth said, "No, be patient, the time will come when the peril will reveal itself, already it is showing." Shaking her head, Karrah suddenly felt weak at the knees and collapsed onto the floor.

"KARRAH!" Tsiriu yelled, diving towards Karrah.

Shaking her head, Karrah sat down on the ground and assured Tsiriu she was all right, there was a short silence before someone asked the obvious question "What year is it?"

They all jumped at this, looking towards the speaker, Isaac was standing there looking a little embarassed

It looks like we've got some teaching to do Karrah. The students aren't what you'd expect however." Tsiriu said, helping her up.

Laughing, Karrah asked "What time is it?"

"It's almost midnight. You guys will have to stay at my place." Tsiriu answered, his face showing a pensive expresion.

"Will someone answer my question? WHAT FRICKEN YEAR IS IT?" Isaac yelled causing a small earthquake

"This is the year 2007. The year count has restarted several times however, so I'd extimate you've been frozen for at least seven millenia.

"Wait," Karrah interrupted "how are we going to get out of here?"

"Easy, make stairs." Tsiriu and Felix said at the same time.

"Okay, never do that again. It's creepy." Tsiriu said, looking down and shaking his head.

"So... are we gonna stand here forever till we get old and grow beards or are we gonna get out of here?" Jenna exclaimed picking up her staff and twirling it.

"Of course we are Jenna, me an Tsiriu just need to make some stairs so we can get out of here." Felix said, annoyed.

"Well then hurry up!" Karrah and Jenna both shouted at the same time, looking at each other, they burst out in laughter while Tsiriu and Felix looked at them with expressions of amusement painted on their faces

When the laughter subsided, they looked at Tsiriu, Isaac, and Felix expectantly

"Come on, let's get back to my place." Tsiriu said, sighing.

"Gladly." Felix said wearily.

Grabbing a hold of Tsiriu's hand, she looked towards him to lead her up to the stairs

Everyone followed, except Jenna.

Isaac noticed and looked back at her "Jenna? What's up babe?"

"ISAAC! Why don't you do that for me?" she yelled, the air getting much hotter.

"uh... do uh... Do what?" he asked trying to play dumb

"Don't worry Jenna, people just started doing it during this decade. It's completely new to him." Tsiriu lied, saving Isaac's ass.

Isaac turned around and shot Tsiriu a look that clearly said _thanks, I owe you one_. Turning around, he held out his hand to Jenna to lead her up the stairs

It was a long walk to Tsiriu's house, especially since Jenna was being her usual self.

Walking along the trail, Karrah was holding Tsiriu's hand and allowing him to lead her while she looked up at the stars between the tree branches. Then, she smelled something vaguely familiar, without even thinking, she let go of Tsiriu's hand and went charging off into the woods following her nose.

Tsiriu ran silently after Karrah, drawing two long knives from the side pockets of his pack. She knew he was behind her, so she kept going.

Coming into a clearing, the smell grew so strong that she almost gagged. Still running forward, she pulled out one of her throwing knives and ran up to a nondescript bush. She began to furiously cut the leaves and petals off of the bush until it was almost nothing but branches. Pulling out a large bag from her pack, she scooped up all the leaves and petals in the bag and began walking back, when Tsiriu charged into the clearing and nearly ran Karrah over.

"WHOA! What's up?" Tsiriu asked. The rest of the gang was now catching up.

"Tsiriu," she exclaimed, holding up the bag of leaves and petals, "look, it's... it's the plant! The Jag Rose!"

"The Jag Rose? I grow it! This is my personal garden! I guess I forgot to show you. Is that the herb you used to help me out earlier?" Tsiriu said, laughing. "You scared the hell outta me you know! "

Blinking a few times to let the information sink in, she suddenly exploded "What? You've been growing the rarest plant in the world in your garden this entire time? and you didn't know?"

"That's not the rarest plant in the world. There is but one more that's more rare. There is but one flower of that kind left. That flower contains the materials required to create the Stone of Sages." Tsiriu said, smiling.

"Oh, Well still!" Grabbing his hand, she led him furiously back to the trail and started walking back to the cabin.

"Karrah, what's wrong? I don't know what most of those flowers are. I'm not an alchemist!" Tsiriu called after her, wondering what he did.

Reaching the cabin a good ten minutes before the rest of the group, Karrah tried the door, and realized it was locked. Sitting down up against the front door, she sighed and closed her eyes. Falling asleep.

"Oh boy, she fell asleep. I wonder what I did to piss her off so much. Oh well, there's always the morning." Tsiriu whispered to himself. He picked her up gently, and carried her to her bed. Softly putting her down, he slid the blanket on top of her and left, but not before activating the flame amulet he gave her when she first moved in.


	8. So many new things

A/N: Tsiriu: Sorry it took so long guys! Oh, and WARNING: LONG CHAPTER AHEAD. Near the end, there is a lemon. Nothing particularly important happens after it, so if you don't want to/aren't over, I think it's either 16 or 18, then skip right through it. I've got a nearly unmissable warning before it.

A/N: Karrah: Yeah, sorry about that. kicks computer repeatedly Piece of crap...

Karrah opened her eyes and quickly shut them. The sunlight shining through her window was maddening. Sitting up, she looked down and noticed that she was still fully clothed, minus her shoes. _Ugh, he could've at least taken my pants and shirt off, its not like he hasn't seen me in any less anyways._ Snorting in disgust, she untangled herself and stood up. Reaching out with her mind, she felt around and could feel a number of people just starting to wake up. Karrah smiled at how each person had their own collective thoughts.

Felix: ...

Jenna: Why am I sleeping on a wooden floor?

Sheba: Who's there? Get out of my head!

Piers: Ack, this is gonna get hard to get used to.

Isaac: I hope Jenna doesn't get mad for me not waking her up

Garet: Mmmm, Pizza...

Ivan: Sheba, you awake?

Mia: I wish I could surf...

Smiling, she probed the one mind that was left.

Tsiriu: I wonder why Karrah was mad at me. I hope she isn't anymore...

Karrah felt a twinge of guilt at this, and her smile disappeared. She wasn't really mad at Tsiriu; she just had a lot going on through her head. Getting up, she grabbed some clean clothes, and headed towards the bathroom. To her surprise, the light was on in there. Opening the door, she saw Felix standing there with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Blushing, Karrah cleared her throat. "Need any help Felix?" she asked, without turning around, Felix nodded. Karrah walked over, turned on the water, pulled up on the little thingy, and waited until the water was warm. "There you go." Felix smiled and nodded his thanks. Grabbing her hairbrush and toothbrush, Karrah looked for the nearest place with a sink, and a mirror.

Tsiriu woke up shortly after, folding his bed back into the couch. He went around,. looking for Grand Sages that weren't busy and apologizing about them having to sleep on the floor, and promising that he'd have the beds ready by that night.

Karrah was in the kitchen brushing her teeth when she heard the sounds of people waking up, the groans of waking up, and the moans of sleeping on the floor. Then she heard something that made her slightly wince. A set of hesitant feet were behind her, and she knew they were Tsiriu's. Glancing behind her, she smiled through her toothbrush and held up a finger to show him to wait just a second. Spitting, she washed her mouth and set her toothbrush down.

Walking up to Tsiriu, she softly hugged him, and whispered, "Sorry."

Wrapping his arms gently around her slender, lithe body, Tsiriu smiled slightly. "Don't be. You've done nothing to be sorry of in my mind. Both of us had a lot on our minds, and that moment brought up a very painful memory of mine. It is I that should be sorry. I would not have been able to keep danger at bay. I would not have been able to protect you like I should if, say it was Alex we freed instead of the Grand Sages." Tsiriu said, resting his head on Karrah's shoulders. Despite the embarrasment he felt, his eyes still sparkled anew, something they haven't done in ten years.

"I still treated you pretty badly Tsiriu, I was never mad, I just had a lot of things on my mind. But, what are we goin to do about breakfast? I looked into the cupboards and I don't think five eggs and a box of cereal, and three slices of bacon will feed ten people."

"You know I don't keep most of my food in here. Besides, I haven't adjusted the capacity to acomodate all the food we'll need yet. I'll just take a trip to the food cellar that's all. Breakfast should be ready in about an hour and 45 minutes." he replied, smiling. "And there's nothing to worry about. I've been treated badly by professionals. Besides, it's understandable. One of that place's defenses is to bring out the most painful memories the visitor has ever had."

Nodding, Karrah quickly tugged on his arm, "Wait! Before you go, I-I want to show you something, it's in my room, can you spare a few minutes?" At Tsiriu's raised eyebrow and slightly suggestive expression, Karrah sighed in disgust and said, "No, its nothing like that, just come on will you!?"

"Calm down, I don't think like Pat after all. I just thought you'd be extremely hungry after last night." Tsiriu said, laughing. "Besides, I'm not thinking about anything like that quite yet, trust me. I don't think I'm even ready for something like that yet." he added, walking towards her door. "So, what is it you want to show me?"

"This," she replied, rummaging under her bed she grabbed a small pouch. Searching around in it, Tsiriu nearly jumped in surprise as Karrah stuck her entire arm in there, and then her head. Tsiriu didn't know this, but Karrah had tied a pocket dimension to the bag, meaning that she could put stuff in there that wouldn't fit in normal suitcases. Will a muffled "Gotcha!" Karrah's head and arm emerged from the pouch. Clutched in her hand was a small, blue glowing crystal.

Walking up to Tsiriu, Karrah handed it to him, when he looked at the inscriptions on it in surprise, and a little confusion, Karrah smiled. "It's Japanese," she said, handing Tsiriu a thin leather cord with which he could tie it around his neck. "It means, I love you."

"Karrah, you do realize what this crystal is right?" Tsiriu said slowly.

"Um... Just something I found in the cave. I saw it when I was changing, and I put it in my pocket. Then last night I woke up and I couldn't sleep, and I carved that onto there. I took a Japanese class so I can speak it somewhat decently."

"Um... Just something I found in the cave, I saw it when I was changing, and I put it in my pocket. Then last night I woke up and I couldn't sleep, and I carved that onto there. I took a Japanese class so I can speak it somewhat decently."

"Oh. You know the amulet I gave you?" Tsiriu asked, looking at her now.

Nodding, Karrah pulled it out, and looked at it curiously.

"You see how the crystals swirld the same way? How they have the same weight?" Tsiriu said, handing her the one she carved.

Nodding again, Karrah looked up at Tsiriu a little more than confused

"The crystal you gave me is the darkness version of the amulet." Tsiriu explained, hanging it around his neck. "By the way: thanks Karrah." he added, hugging her decently tightly.

Feeling Tsiriu's warmth, she hugged him back, feeling more than safe in his arms. When she felt a warm dampness on the top of her head, she looked back up at Tsiriu. "Are you crying?"

"Not of sorrow, my young friend. Not of sorrow." he said softly, looking at her with a warm smile.

"Friend?" She asked softly, "just a friend?"

"No, far more. Although, I'm not entirely sure what to call it. So I'm sticking with friend, since you're my only one." Tsiriu said, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek as if the answer was obvious.

Trying to swallow down the disappointment that was growing, Karrah kissed him back on the cheek and pulled away slightly. "Isn't it time you got breakfast? I don't want to have to save you from an angry mob of Grand Sages."

"Heh, but first. Is something, anything, bothering you? Your eyes don't have as much of their usual sparkle." Tsiriu said, looking into her eyes.

Shaking her head and smiling, she replied with, "Nope, you're way off, I'm just hungry that's all."

"If you say so." Tsiriu said, smiling. Despite what she said, he still had the feelign that he messed up somewhere.

Kissing him on the cheek again, Karrah looked behind him to see Felix standing there leaning up against the doorframe. Her eyes widened, and she jumped in surprise.

"What?" Tsiriu quieried, looking at her weirdly.

Smiling and blushing a little, she pointed towards the door.

"Oh, uh, hi Felix..." Tsiriu said, blushing. "How about I go get breakfast ready. It should be done in around an hour."

Nodding in agreement, Felix stood aside as Tsiriu walked out the door and to the stores where he kept the food. Making sure Tsiriu was out of earshot, Felix closed the door with his foot, but leaving it ajar about a foot.

"You really like him dont you?" Felix asked, moving from the door to lean up against the far wall.

Nodding, Karrah softly murmured "Yes, I do," wincing at the way her voice sounded, it sounded far more depressed than she really felt. Smiling, Felix grabbed a chair, straddled the back, and faced her. "Then why don't you tell him that?"

Karrah sighed, why didn't she tell him that? "I'm afraid of what will happen, I don't want to force him into wanting to date me."

Felix chuckled very softly and shook his head slowly. "I had the same problem with Jenna, she was madly in love with him but didn't have the guts to tell him. My advice to you is this Karrah. Tell him, because he'll never figure it out, or know, unless you tell him."

Smiling at Felix, Karrah got up off of her bed, helped Felix out of the chair, hugged him and muttered quick thanks. "Now if you'll excuse me, I desperately need a shower." Leaving Felix standing alone in her room.

Tsiriu wandered through the cold cellar looking for something impressive for breakfast. After all, he had eight of the most powerful Adepts in his home, and the most wonderful person he had ever met. "You seemed sad Karrah... Why?" he said to himself and to whatever else was listening. Not noticing, Sheba was in the cellar as well, trying to find her way out. She heard him.

"Hmm? What did you say Tsiriu?" she asked, making her way towards him.

"Oh, uh, nothing, nothing." he said, looking away as he heaved some frozen meat out of the way.

"Tsiriu, you seem to have forgotten, I can read your mind. So take no offense to this but, you're lying." Sheba told him, helping him move the meat.

"You do understand that it is possible to cloud one's emotions and thoughts to a Wind adept right?" he said, trying to sound angry, even though it just made him sound more depressed.

Laughing, Sheba nodded. "Yes, Ivan and I used to play a game with that. I've long since learned to get past it. You weren't even trying, or even a challenge to get by Tsiriu. So what's wrong?"

"I do not want to burden you with my problems Sheba. surely you have enough of your own." Tsiriu said, his last resort to avoiding talking about himself.

"Once again Tsiriu, I know what's going on. I don't have too many problems, I don't bother hiding them anymore, and Ivan is too good. So I already know what's going on, but I want to hear it coming from your mouth."

Sighing, Tsiriu knew that there was nothing he could do at this point. "Alright alright. Karrah seemed down earlier, when Felix walked in on her showing my this crystal she found and engraved in that cave. She's seemed down for a while now. I'm not sure what's wrong. I considered coming to you or Ivan for help, since you can read minds, but I value her privacy over many things, so I decided not to. Grrrrd." Tsiriu said as he tried to lift a particularly heavy piece of chicken.

Sheba walked over and helped him lift it. "I understand about the privacy thing, if you'd like, I can talk to her and see what's going on."

"Try to make sure it doesn't sound like we talked, alright?" Tsiriu asked, loooking over at Sheba with a sad smile.

"I know, I won't," she replied, shaking her head, she looked at him. "Cheer up buttercup." and skipped out of the cellar.

"Buttercup?" Tsiriu echoed, laughing. "Never heard you be social before Sheba."

Poking her head back in for a second, she smiled at him "Technically, you've never heard me before either."

"Actually, that's true..." he replied, trying to remember any time when he heard her voice. "Actually, there was when you introduced yourself."

Rolling her eyes "Yes, because we had such a large conversation, that, and I've been here for less than 24 hours. But don't worry, if you want I can become a hermit and just have mental conversations with Ivan."

"I never said nor thought that, and you know it." Tsiriu said, laughing.

"I know Tsiriu, I'm just teasing you." Sheba said leaving the cellar, connecting with Ivan, Sheba woke him up. _Ivan, get up, we've got work to do._

"Well, that was, different. Now I know three that can read minds. Well, two that can, one that kinda can. Whatever." Tsiriu said to himself, finally finding the ingredients he was looking for.

Stepping out of the shower, Karrah quickly dried herself off and stood up straight in surprise as she heard the door creak slightly. Quickly covering herself and stealthily walking up to the door, she peeked into the crack and saw one large brown eye peeking back. Opening it farther, Karrah saw Jenna standing there with a towel wrapped around her. "Oh hi Jenna, do you need the shower?" Jenna blushed and nodded. Opening the door wide, Karrah gestured for Jenna to enter, and enter Jenna did, as if she were walking on a mine field. Giggling slightly at Jenna's nervous and scared reaction, Karrah went over, took the towel off and began finishing drying herself. She saw Jenna throwing curious glances her way as Karrah dressed and brushed her hair. Then Jenna nervously cleared her throat.

"Oh yeah! You guys don't know how to work the shower!" Karrah laughed and ran over to the tub, with her jeans held up with one hand, Karrah showed Jenna how to turn on the shower, and how to regulate hot and cold water. "There you go Jenna, enjoy." Then Jenna cleared her throat very nervously and looked at the door, "Oh, well Jenna I can't leave, I'm not dressed, but I'll turn away if you want." Shaking her head yes, Jenna waited for Karrah to turn around before she turned on the water, and took her towel off, little did Jenna know that Karrah took a quick peek underneath her arm as she got into the shower.

Tsiriu got back inside a few minutes after he left the cellar, hauling the semi-large box of foodstuffs in. "Can someone get the other boxes off my bike and bring them in please?" he called out, placing the rather heavy box on the table.'

Ivan volunteered to help. _Sheba, what do I need to help you with?_ "Alright Tsiriu, what do you want me to do?"

"Just cut the ropes from each box on my bike and put the boxes on the kitchen table. Thanks a lot, I'll be helping so leave the knife out there." he replied, cutting the ropes on one of the boxes.

"Okay," Ivan replied. _To put it simply, we need to get Tsiriu to ask Karrah out. _Sheba told him. _How are we going to do that?_ Ivan asked sticking the knife point into a box and carrying some inside. _Let me work on that, I need to talk to Karrah and be sure that I knows what's going on._ Mentally nodding, Isaac walked back outside and grabbed another box.

"Thanks a lot Ivan, tell everyone breakfast's gonna be ready in about 15 minutes." Tsiriu said, putting the last of the stuff away. He began cooking without using Psynergy or alchemy or anything.

"It would take so much less time if you used Psynergy you know." Ivan remarked.

"Yet it wouldn't taste anywhere near as good. I've tried." Tsiriu replied absently.

Nodding in agreement, Ivan mentally told everyone that breakfast would be ready soon. He then privately told Sheba that a good time to talk to Karrah would be now.

Sheba got up, walked down the hallway, and mentally looked into Karrah's room. She was changed and decent, but laying on her bed trying to read. Politely knocking on the door, Sheba entered the room and asked if she could sit down. When Karrah absently nodded, Sheba grabbed the chair Felix had been previously sitting in, and waited for Karrah to acknowledge her. Putting the book away, Karrah turned to Sheba and gave her a questioning look.

"You seem troubled," Sheba pointed out. Sighing and sitting up, Karrah turned and leaned against the wall. "Yeah, it's nothing though." Sheba smiled and shook her head, "I'm sorry, but it's not nothing. You've got Tsiriu worried you know.

"I do? I didn't know that, I just don't want to come out and tell him that I don't want to be just friends... I don't want to guilt him or force him into something he's not ready for."

"I know Karrah, remember, I'm telepathic, I didn't invade your mind, it just came to me." Sitting on the bed next to Karrah, she sighed and said "To be honest, I don't know if Tsiriu's ready, I only read his mind when I thought he was lying. Karrah, if you like, I could probe his mind." Shaking her head no, Karrah looked at Sheba, "No, I appreciate the gesture, but if I go out with him, I don't want him to have been manipulated, you know what I mean? I want him to do it of his own volition, and it be his own decision."

Nodding in understanding, Karrah got up and stretched. "Breakfast should be ready soon Sheba, in fact, I think it's almost done." Helping Sheba to her feet, Karrah pulled her into a quick hug. "Thanks for the offer though, that was nice of you." Nodding a 'no problem,' Sheba walked out of the door and told Ivan, _Alright, we need to get to work soon._

Tsiriu was just rounding the corner when Karrah was, and they knocked each other down. "Oh shit, you alright Karrah?" he said, helping her to her feet. "Breakfast is ready."

"Yes I'm fine Tsiriu, I'll go get everyone else okay? Sheba's in my room so tell her it's ready. With that, Karrah went into the living room where everyone was lounging, she then noticed how truly crowded it was.

Tsiriu gently knocked on the doorframe for Karrah's room. "Breakfast. Feel like coming?" he said, leaning in.

Sheba stood there looking a little awkward. "Yeah, I'll be there."

Meanwhile Karrah stood in the doorway while everyone sat entranced or amazed by the TV. "I see you guys found the main cause of laziness and obesity in this country. Heh, anyways, breakfasts ready."

"What's on your mind Sheba?" Tsiriu said after looking into Sheba's eyes for a moment or two.

"Nothing, I'm just trying to get used to all this, showers, television, at least you still cook the normal way."

"Heh. Ivan recommended using Psynergy, but that takes from the taste. We can cook things faster now, but they don't taste as good. Don't worry, it's not all that complicated. Since you agreed to help me, I'll help you out in adjusting. Sound good?" Tsiriu said, putting a hand on Sheba's shoulders. "After all, what're friends for huh?"

"Friend? That's something I've rarely had, before I met up with Felix and them, everyone avoided me when I was with Table, and thank you Tsiriu, you're a kind person. I can see why Karrah likes you so much."

"So you've talked to her about that then?" Tsiriu said, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah, I got the chance to while you were cooking. But unfortunately, she asked me not to intervene, so I'm sorry."

"That's alright, you tried. That's all that matters" Tsiriu said, helping Sheba up. "Come on, before it's all gone."

"With Garet around I wouldn't be surprised." But they were surprised, Karrah had laid everything out and they had a nice sort of assembly line going. Though Karrah had to constantly remind Garet that they couldn't have seconds until everyone had firsts, and was constantly asking where Tsiriu and Sheba were. Though Garet made a few suggestions, they were quickly squashed by her evil glare.

"Sorry for taking so long guys." Tsiriu said, sitting down.

Karrah smiled across the table and shot a questioning look at Sheba, who mentally said _don't worry, he was just coming to get me._ Nodding, Karrah dug into her food, which, was as usual, delicious. Even better than her previous meal. Though it was hard to eat comfortably, ten people didn't fit well at a table. So, she stood up and leaned against the wall in the corner of the room.

"Sorry about the cramped accommodations. This place never really was meant for more then four people, never mind the amount of people we've got now." Tsiriu said, offering his seat to Karrah, or if she wouldn't take it, anyone who would.

Karrah politely shook her head no, and leaned more against the wall, it was unusually quiet a table so full, and Karrah new why. They were bursting with questions, and they needed help coping. They were curious and scared. "So Tsiriu, I think we all learned how to use the shower today."

"Hopefully. If anyone needs help, we can split up and we'll help each other. How do you think we should split them up though Karrah?" Tsiriu asked, whispering into her ear.

"I don't know," Karrah replied softly, "I think we should just help them adjust."

"Yes, but if we split them into two groups and each help our group, it'll go faster we just need to figure out how to do split these ones up. By group, gender, age, random, what?"

"Well, Tsiriu, I might be learning telepathy, but I in no way know how a man's mind works, and I dearly don't want to get stuck with Garet's mind, you should have heard some of the things he was saying earlier about you and Sheba! Anyways, we should go by gender, but that leaves me with three and you with five, if you want, i can take Felix or Ivan, or Piers, but you get Garet no matter what."

"Heh, don't worry about Garet, I was gonna make sure he's not with you. And I'll be fine." he said, leaning back over the table.

Nodding her head, she grabbed Sheba's plate and walked into the kitchen with hers as well. _You hungry Sheba? You ate like a horse. _

Yeah, I know, a few thousand years will do that to a person.

Chuckling, Karrah began washing the dishes.

"Alrighty then everyone, you all seem to need to learn how to use stuff in this age, so me and Karrah are gonna help you. Girls with Karrah, guys with me. She's gonna be out in a second, she's just finishing the dishes." Tsiriu said rather loudly, even though it really wasn't necessary.

Finishing the two dishes, Karrah leaned into where everyone was seated, and said, "Please, everyone, just bring your plates into the kitchen, and I'll wash them."

"Here, I'll help." Ivan said, collecting everyone's dishes and brining them into the kitchen.

"Thanks Ivan." Karrah said, grabbing a pot she started to scrub. "I'll scrub, you dry okay?"

"Alright, hopefully I don't make the wind too strong." he replied, getting a really weak Psynergy ready.

Shaking her head, Karrah muttered something that sounded like, "Lazy bum..." but she kept it quiet. Tossing a pot to Ivan, Karrah picked up a plate and began scrubbing at it.

Catching it clumsily, he dried it quickly. "So Karrah, how long do you think it'll take us to get used to things around here?"

"Not sure," she replied absently rolling the dish towards Ivan, "I was in a coma once, for about a month, and in that month, my parent's got a new dishwasher, a universal remote, and a new lawn mower. It took me two weeks to get used to everything, and that was without help. Oh, and if Tsiriu is ever too busy to help you, you can ask me, I know about as much as he does."

"Thanks Karrah. Although I didn't understand most of it." Ivan said, looking really confused.

"Oh that's right! Sorry! I keep forgetting! Okay, a dishwasher is a machine, it washes dishes for us. A remote is a machine that tells other machines what to do, like to turn on, turn off, etc. a lawn mower is something that cuts the grass out front."

"It wasn't hard to figure out what a dishwasher is. Pretty self-explanatory. Thanks for explaining about those things. Does Tsiriu have any of those?" Ivan asked, drying a pan that was as big as his head.

"A lawn mower? I have yet to see one, a remote? Yes, a dishwasher? Obviously no."

"Ah. I wonder where he kept all that food. I hope we don't end up eating all of it." Ivan replied, putting away the last dish.

"I highly doubt that, Tsiriu has a gigantic store somewhere around here." Patting Ivan on the head, she giggled at his furious look and walked into the dining room. "Okay, dishes are done."

"Alright, how about we go see how Tsiriu is handling Garet?" Ivan suggested, dispelling the waiting wind.

"Sure, thought I should probably check on the girls. Did you see where they went?"

"I think they went towards your room. Good luck helping them out. Some of them, especially Mia, can be a little incomprehensive of technology." Ivan said, walking over to Tsiriu and the others.

"Oh boy, I hope they didn't touch my guitar," Karrah said before dashing off to her room, to find Mia and the others sitting on her bed, plucking the strings on her guitar. "ACK!" she cried as she dashed into the room, tripped, and fell flat on her face. "Sorry, can I have my guitar back?"

"Oh, sorry. I used to have something that looked like this, but it only had three strings, and it was called a lute." Mia said, putting the guitar back.

"It's okay," Karrah replied, plucking the strings to make sure it was in tune "So, anything you guys want to know about this place?"

"Well, we don't know almost anything about the world nowadays, so it would seem that any help at all would be nice." Mia replied in her airy voice.

"Okay, let me see, that's a clock, it tells us what time it is, that.." she said pointing to lamp "is a lamp, we turn it on when its dark, its like a candle, but it uses electricity, not fire."

"Okay, well, let's walk around and have you ask me what things are. Actually, how about we go over and see what Tsiriu is doing with Garet?"

"Garet. That's a clock. Just like the ones you guys had. The only reason it looks different is because that's the first thing I ever made." Tsiriu said rather loudly. _Ivan, I know you're listening. How did this guy EVER learn Psynergy? _

You'd have to ask Isaac, I just met them in Vault. Came the curt answer.

"Apparently not well." Mia whispered into Karrah's ear, giggling softly.

Laughing as well, Karrah slowly walked up to Tsiriu, so that he wouldn't notice here, and whispered in his ear, "Boo."

"Hi Karrah." Tsiriu said as his arm muscles twitched. "Having any luck? It's not going as good as it could over here."

"Some, I don't really feel too horribly like going throughout your house, and force feeding them all the information, how about we just let them adjust on their own, and if they need help- which they probably do- we'll explain it to them."

"That sounds like it'd be for the best, just let me go through this with Garet, at his own pace." Tsiriu whispered, suppressing a smirk.

"Tsiriu, you might need a special ed teacher for that,"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Tsiriu replied, gathering everyone.

"Alrighty then, change of plans. We'll just let you guys adjust on your own, obviously helping out where it's needed or wanted. Garet though, can I talk to you?" Tsiriu said loudly, readying a Psynergetic barrier made for flame and heat.

Nodding smartly, Karrah backed up, as did the rest except for Garet

"You're the exception. Mainly because we all probably agree that you'll be the one most in need of help." Tsiriu said, his hand ready to release the hidden Psynergy.

"I'm not gonna take that as an insult for now. Just don't treat me like some little kid or some idiot." Garret replied, slightly pissed off.

"Heh," Jenna said, stepping forward "Garet, you make me laugh. But you've got a point, you aren't a little kid, and you aren't an idiot, you're just goofy, and we just like to tease you that's all."

"Uh, yeah. What she said." Tsiriu remarked, dispelling the Psynergy.

Laughing, Karrah went inside, and left the group with Tsiriu with a short message of "I'll be right back."

"So Tsiriu, when are we gonna go somewhere?" Garet said, looking ready for a fight.

"As soon as everyone learns to ride a bike. I'm finishing up the last of the training wheels now." Tsiriu answered, almost laughing at the thought of Garet trying to learn how to ride a bike. "So Tsiriu, when are we gonna go somewhere?" Garet said, looking ready for a fight.

"As soon as everyone learns to ride a bike. I'm finishing up the last of the training wheels now." Tsiriu answered, almost laughing at the thought of Garet trying to learn how to ride a bike.

_Felix, can you come here for a moment?_ Karrah asked, sitting just inside the front door.

_Sure, give me a minute._ Came his reply, and in a moment, he was inside the front door. "Thanks," she said getting up, "I wanted to ask you Felix, how come you and Garet are alone?"

"Well, I dunno. I haven't really seen anything interesting. Well, there is... Never mind, it'll disgust you. Garet too." Felix replied, looking down. "Don't ask, you probly won't want to know."

Giggling, Karrah smoothly slid up close to Felix, "Felix, are you not telling us all something?"

"No, why?" he replied, confused. "What's that look for?"

"What look?" she asked innocently. "But okay, I think you should find a girl, you aren't getting any younger after all you know."

"Don't worry Karrah. Once I find someone I feel is worth it, I'll go for them." he said curtly, still not knowing what she's worried about.

"Okay Felix, I just wanted to know why, you're such a cutie, and you've got that muscular look, and the dark 'I don't speak' kind of thing going on. To be honest a lot of women would die for someone like that. I would too, but I've got Tsiriu so..." her voice trailed off as she realised she had made a mistake, she didn't have Tsiriu.

"There's something bothering you about you and Tsiriu, isn't there? The only advice I can give without interfering is: The eyes can say a great many things, even though, if asked, most guys will say the same things their eyes do." he replied, putting his hand on Karrah's shoulder. "Don't worry."

"How do I not?" she asked as they stepped outside, "how do you tell somebody what you want from them, without them getting upset, or thinking you selfish?"

"Are you worried that Tsiriu will judge you?" Felix asked, stopping Karrah. "You've lived with him for a while Karrah. He's done your laundry at least once, you've shared secrets with him, kissed him, maybe more." He added, laughing.

Karrah stood there staring at Felix shocked, "You... how could you think that!?" punching him in the gut, she smiled and said "just playing, we haven't done anything like that, though, once, I felt like I really would have too."

"Alright, alright, too much information please." Felix said quickly. "You have to remember, I spent an insanely long time being stuck in that ice experiencing Garet's dreams."

"Why were you experiencing his dreams?" Karrah asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Using a group Psynergy causes your minds to 'merge', for lack of a better word. You see the person's dreams, hear their thoughts." Felix explained, his face pensive.

Karrah's expression became one of horror, "My god," she murmured, staring at Felix, "You poor thing, how long were you out? A few thousands years? Experiencing Garet's dreams, you've got to be scarred for life. That's worse than seeing your parent's have sex for god's sake..."

"After a while, you learn how to block yourself from that."

"I guess, or you get used to it, though I swear, walking in on my parents is something I'll never forget. Shall we go then?"

"Of course." Felix said, already several steps away.

Quickening her pace to catch up, Karrah walked next to Felix, the group coming in sight. Just to mess with Tsiriu's mind, Karrah linked her arm with Felix's and put a broad grin on her face, mentally telling Felix to go along with it.

"Welcome back guys. Uh... Did I miss something?" Tsiriu said, his heart aching until he realized it's probably just a joke. Hopefully, just a joke.

"Not much really," Karrah replied, seeing Tsiriu's disappointed look, Karrah smiled inwardly, she wasn't enjoying seeing him upset, but she wanted him jealous enough to ask her out. "Felix and I were just... talking."

"Ok. Well, come on. We've got work to do. Garet's having trouble with the stove. I think he's getting ready to set it aflame." Tsiriu said after a yell from the kitchen.

"Alright," Karrah replied, still keeping her arm linked with Felix's, walking back into the house, almost enjoying the look of utter confusion on Tsiriu's face as she did a little skip and dragged Felix along behind her.

_Karrah, please tell me this is a joke. It's not funny at all..._ Tsiriu thought, his right eye burning.

Karrah however, wasn't reading Tsiriu's mind at that moment, but she could see on his face that he was hurting, so she dropped her arm out of Felix's, and dropped back next to Tsiriu. "Sorry," she said, looking down.

"So it was a joke." Tsiriu said, the tears returning inside after a single blink.

"Not a joke, but it wasn't real either." Karrah said, scuffing the toe of her shoe into the ground

"Oh. Ok. And by the way, you didn't hurt me that bad, I've been attacked by professionals, remember?" Tsiriu lied, putting a comforting hand on Karrah's shoulder and filling his mind with a picture of her.

Karrah smiled and nodded, she knew Tsiriu was lying, but she wasn't going to let him know. "I understand," she lied as well, "Anyways, I think we should check on Garet." With that, she skipped off, going into the house

"That might be a good idea, this way we can make sure he doesn't bring the house down." Tsiriu replied, running in. _Karrah...  
_

"Yeah," she called back, entering the kitchen and seeing quite a spectacle, the stove was on fire, Garet had set a corner of his shirt on fire, Ivan and Sheba were trying to calm him down, Piers and Mia were trying to put the fire out, and Felix and Isaac stood and watched.

"GARET!" Tsiriu bellowed, walking in. "Didn't I tell you to wait for me?"

Garet froze in his attempt to put his shirt out and stared at Tsiriu, Karrah fell over in the dead silence and began cackling like an idiot, while everyone else stared at Tsiriu

"Uh... Maybe. Just shut up and help me out!" Garet yelled, jumping up and down. "Hot hot hot!"

Karrah was still on the floor, rolling around and trying to catch her breath, in between gasps Karrah managed to get out "Garet! Heh... you're aligned... Hahahahaha... to fire you idiot!"

"Oh yeah!" he said, moving the fire to the nearby river, putting it out.

"Dumbass." Tsiriu said, fixing his stove.

After fixing the stove, Karrah brought Tsiriu back to her room so he could grab the present from her. "Thanks again Karrah." He said, putting it on.

Karrah smiled at him and kissed him softly, letting her body sink into his

"Karrah?" Tsiriu said, his body beginning to finally relax.

"Mmmm?" she murmured in reply, becoming very comfortable in Tsiriu's lap

"Love ya." Tsiriu whispered softly, resting his head on the first thing he could, which turned out to be Karrah's chest.

Karrah laid down on the bed, and pulled Tsiriu up so that she could kiss him again. "I love you too."

A/N Tsiriu: WARNING WARNING lemon ahead. The rest isn't particularly plot important, so you can go ahead and skip it if you so wish.

"Karrah..." Tsiriu mumbled, bringing his kiss back to her neck, though now with a little more force

Karrah turned her head to the side so that Tsiriu could kiss her more easily. "Yes Tsiriu?" she asked in barely more than a murmur.

"How far?" Was all that he could get out. His entire body was going through an electric shock, by the feel of it. His muscles almost didn't feel like moving.

Karrah ran a hand through his hair, "As far as it can go."

"Gladly..." Tsiriu whispered, loosing himself in his feelings, and what his body felt. He slowly brought the kisses down, frowning slightly when he hit cloth. "Karrah..." He whispered, stopping for a moment.

"What is it?" she asked, looking at him.

"Mmph..." He mumbled, nudging the shirt hem.

Karrah smiled and pulled her shirt off slowly. "There," she said a little louder than she would've liked, she was really nervous.

Tsiriu couldn't reply even f he wanted to. He kept bringing the kisses lower and lower, tickling Karrah slightly. He almost tried to ask Karrah about the second piece of cloth, but couldn't as his body took over.

Karrah shivered slightly, she wasn't cold, but Tsiriu had a way about him that made her do that.

Tsiriu's mouth slowly made its way down Karrah's chest, as his hand gently massaged the other breast. A strange pressure came about in his lower regions, but he discarded it.

Karrah closed her eyes and began to breathe a little heavier than before, she reached behind herself and began unclipping her bra.

Noticing the movement of her hands, Tsiriu reached behind Karrah, gently pushed her hands away, and had her bra off her in half a second.

Karrah grinned at Tsiriu's look of triumph, leaning up, she kissed him softly, and let her bra fall away. Reaching down, she tugged upwards on his shirt, then pulled it off.

Shivering slightly at the cold air hitting his body, he smiled as an idea took hold. "Hold me hand, I've got a surprise." He whispered mysteriously, a strange grin spreading across his face.

"Do you trust me?"

Tsiriu clicked his fingers and there were surrounded by black. Soon, Tsiriu began to sing in a warm, bass voice, singing indecipherable words of energy. Soon, the black swam to the blue of ocean, then a waterfall in the middle of a forest swam into vision. "This place, I've been preparing it for something like this." Tsiriu said, smiling. He began work on Karrah's chest, his hand continuing its work on her left chest, his mouth and tongue massaging her nipple, gently flicking it as it got to the tip.

Karrah arched her back, pressing up against Tsiriu's warm body, moaning a little she leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

Tsiriu began to suck gently on her perk tit, so gently it sent waves through her entire body. Feeling moistness near her thighs, he knew he was doing his part well.

Karrah moaned and pulled Tsiriu up, kissing him on the lips and pressing her warm body against his. She reached down with one hand and began fumbling with his belt.

Tsiriu's kisses became deeper and more passionate as he felt Karrah's hand near his groin. He reached one hand down to help her, but it ended up working on hers.

Karrah moaned into Tsiriu's mouth as she felt his fingertips brush against her groin through her pants. She finally got his belt undone and then she unbuttoned his pants. Kissing him deeper as well, she reached up and unbuttoned her pants that Tsiriu were fumbling with.

Tsiriu's mouth left hers, and he slid down her, his head quite close to her groin.

Karrah's breathing began to come faster, as it grew shorter, her body was soon covered with a sheen of perspiration in the moonlight, as was Tsiriu's

Tsiriu slowly pulled Karrah's pants off of her lightly muscled legs, her smell coming up towards him, driving him crazy.

Karrah looked down at Tsiriu, "No fair," she murmured, "I'm the only one naked."

At this, Tsiriu laughed warmly. Smiling, he stood up to give Karrah a little 'show'.

"No," Karrah murmured, pulling Tsiriu down, "I want to do it myself."

"Yeah, it's probably gonna be more fun that way." Tsiriu whispered, sitting back down.

"Heh," Karrah said, pulling Tsiriu's pants off. Getting them off, she slid a hand in his boxers and started to rub him gently.

Moaning softly, Tsiriu stretched his legs a little. Since he was on bottom, there wasn't much he could do. But he did bring his hands to Karrah's chest again and started to roll her tit between his fingers.

Karrah pulled her hand out, moaning softly, and began to tug Tsiriu's boxers down, pulling them off, she slid back up Tsiriu's body, pressing hers against his.

Taking the initiative, Tsiriu slid down as Karrah slid up, flipping her onto her back along the way. "Ready?" He queried, his face an inch from her crotch.

"Going to be a little hard," she murmured, glancing down, "with my thong on isn't it?"

"It can be moved." Tsiriu said, sliding it down her body without his hands, but his teeth.

Karrah shivered as she felt his hot breath on her groin, looking down at his questioning look, she nodded.

Tsiriu shyly poked around her most special and private area, resting his head on the small patch of soft skin just below Karrah's stomach.

Karrah moaned slightly as she felt his fingers rubbing her and his breath on her sensitive skin, shivering slightly, Karrah began to breathe faster.

"Here we go." Tsiriu said, gently spreading her 'lips' with two fingers.

Karrah moaned as she felt his fingers slip inside her, she pushed against them.

"Is that good Karrah?" Tsiriu said, enjoying the feeling of her moist clit as he gently rubbed it between his thumb and middle finger.

Karrah nodded as waves of pleasure rushed through her body, she felt hot, considering the cold night air. She pushed more against him and moaned louder.

Karrah nodded as waves of pleasure rushed through her body, she felt hot, considering the cold night air. She pushed more against him and moaned louder.

Tsiriu smiled at the sight before him. Sweating slightly, panting, smiling, and her hair everywhere, Karrah lay before him. He gently added a second finger, pushing in as deep as he could. He eventually met resistance. A thin flap of flesh blocked his path. "What to do now..."

Karrah reached down and pulled his fingers away, tugging upwards, she smiled as Tsiriu slid upwards towards her face.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Tsiriu asked, looking at her with confusion.

Karrah looked meaningfully downwards and shook her head no, leaning up, she kissed him quickly and laid back down.

"So what do you want me to do with that?" Tsiriu said, sliding back down.

Karrah shook her head no, grabbing Tsiriu's wrist and pulling him upwards again.

Tsiriu laid down on top of her, his face confused. "Did I do something wrong?"

Karrah again shook her head no, she looked downwards again and slightly pressed against his hips.

"Oh, I see." Tsiriu said, kneeling between her legs. "Are you sure you want to do this Karrah?" Tsiriu said, looking deep into her eyes. "I don't want to force you to do anything."

Karrah's heart nearly swelled with happiness that she had found a guy kind enough to do that. Karrah sat up on her elbows, so her face was inches from Tsiriu's. "Tsiriu, I love you, and I would walk to the end of the earth and back for you, I would do anything for you. But right now, I want to do this, for us."

"Alright Karrah." Tsiriu said softly, whispering into her ear. He positioned himself near her entrance, and held her hand. "Here we go." He whispered as he gently spread her 'lips' apart and slid into her. He quickly met the barrier, and went right through it.

Karrah gasped in a mixture of pleasure and pain as she felt Tsiriu push deep inside of her. "Oh my god," she whimpered, squeezing his hand tightly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be that bad." Tsiriu said, stopping for a second.

Karrah stared at him softly for a moment. "Don't stop," she whispered, smiling at him.

"Alright" Was all that he said before Tsiriu began his movement again, pulling out of Karrah and coming back in a little faster each time.

Karrah leaned her head back and moaned slightly, "Tsiriu," she whispered, her mouth going slightly dry, "I love you so m-much,"

"And I love you Karrah." Tsiriu murmured, burying himself into her all the way down to the hilt.

: Karrah gasped and moaned loudly. Squeezing her eyes shut, she spread her legs a little farther apart and moaned again.

Tsiriu kept speeding up slightly each time, his hand crawling slowly up Karrah's stomach, reaching up for her chest. "Karrah..." He mumbled, picking her up and holding her, one hand behind her back, another on her ass.

"Mmmm," Karrah moaned, now riding up and down on Tsiriu's hands, smiling as he softly rubbed her ass and her back, "Tsiriu..." she whispered, her voice barely audible over the heavy breathing of the couple.

Tsiriu's mouth found her perk chest as her body bounced on top of his arms. "Mmph..." he mumbled, his words coming out as a muffle through the soft, warm flesh of Karrah's breasts.

Karrah's breathing became more labored as waves of pleasure rushed through her body with each thrust. Karrah reached up and clutched at Tsiriu's back as she felt her orgasm beginning to build. Her moans began to come more often, and her breaths in short little gasps. "Oh my god Tsiriu," she breathed, sucking in a lungful of air.

Tsiriu's body began to heat up, his eyes closing slowly. His thrusts became gradually more and more powerful, going deeper and deeper each time. "Karrah!" Was all that Tsiriu could say.

Karrah emitted a small scream as her orgasm hit, her body shuddered in Tsiriu's hands and her fingernails dug into his back as her grip tightened. "Oh Tsiriu," she moaned, gasping for breath.

Tsiriu kept thrusting a few more times after Karrah came, his face relaxed and smiling slightly, his hands shaking a tiny bit. "Oh, Karrah, my god..." He said as he buried himself into her one last time, his body shaking slightly as his seed shot out.

Karrah sat there quivering in his arms as he stopped moving. "You're shaking," she said quietly, removing her arms from his back and wrapping them around his neck.

"It was my first time, and it's really tiring." Tsiriu replied, laying her down on a blanket near the waterfall.

Karrah grabbed his wrist and tugged him down next to her, "Its cold," she murmured quietly, pulling up close to him, "don't go, please."

"I'm not, I just thought we could use a fire, so I'm grabbing the kindling out of my bag." Tsiriu said softly, pulling out a bag of dried plants.

Karrah whimpered quietly, pulling the blanket around her while Tsiriu got the fire started. She watched him as he attempted to start the fire. "Cute butt," she told him quietly, blushing slightly at what she had said.

"You're one to talk." Tsiriu said, turning around and pointing at hers. "Besides, you're cute all over."

Karrah blushed an even deeper red. "Yes but you're the handsome one."

"I doubt anything could compare to you Karrah." Tsiriu said, leaving the forming fire to gently stroke her cheek.

"I can name three things," she said softly, closing her eyes at Tsiriu's touch.

"What's that then Karrah?" Tsiriu whispered, his voice taking on a different, more friendly yet even more mysterious tone and a melody that was absent from any other time he had spoke.

"You, yourself, and you again." Karrah murmured, sinking into the comforts of the blanket

Blushing slightly, even after what had just happened, Tsiriu still had a little trouble forming his words. "I was worried about whether tonight would, change things between us, I guess you could say."

Karrah looked down, chewing on her bottom lip. Looking back up at Tsiriu, she shook her head. "Tsiriu, baby, there's only two things that I want to change."

"What's that Karrah?" He replied a little faster then he meant to.

"One," she whispered slowly, holding up a finger in front of Tsiriu, "that this mean's that we're together. The second thing, is that, maybe we could sleep in the same room?" Seeing the look on Tsiriu's face she added, "Plus, it would give everyone else more room."

"That's true. And I was kinda hoping for the first one for a while now." Tsiriu said, laughing. "I thought it was something a little worse or something."

"Never," Karrah whispered, pushing Tsiriu backwards a little and climbing on top of him, she smiled down at him.

Smiling back, Tsiriu's body was still a little tired, but he'd follow along nonetheless. "We'd have to move your stuff. Actually, I've got less stuff so I'll move. It'll be easier."

Karrah smiled, and nodded slightly. Sensing Tsiriu's exhaustion, she leaned close and whispered, "If you're too tired, we don't have to you know."

"I'm only as tired as I would be after ten minute's run, I'm fine if you are Karrah." Tsiriu said, laughing. "Besides, aren't I normally the one worried about you?"

Karrah smiled back as she rubbed her groin against Tsiriu's. Emitting a moan, she looked down at him.

Moaning quietly, Tsiriu smiled, his eyes closed, and rubbed gently back.

Karrah slowly slid down his body, until her face was level with his groin. With a smile, she leaned in, and licked it.

Shivering slightly, Tsiriu's moan got suddenly quite loud. Glad he made this on a random island too small to be inhabited. He figured things might get a bit loud this time around.

Karrah smiled at the moan emitting from Tsiriu, leaning in a little more, she put her lips over it, and gently began to lick it and suck on it at the same time

"Karrah..." He said, getting hard again quick under her skilled lips. "Sometimes, you make me wonder whether I was your first time or not." He said, groaning.

Karrah ignored his statement and continued to lick him, closing her mouth slightly, she allowed her teeth to gently massage him as she moved her head up and down.

Groaning very loudly now, Tsiriu's back arched slightly as his eyes closed once more.

Karrah removed her head and sat up, moving forward a little, she slid him into herself, and began to move up and down slowly.

"Karrah..." Tsiriu moaned slightly, smiling now as he watched her go up and down.

Karrah pressed herself hard against Tsiriu, pushing it all the way in, and then slowly sliding it out.

Shuddering as she did so, Tsiriu's moan became yelp, his back arched even more as she came down on him. "K-Karrah." He said in between, bringing his mouth up to hers.

Karrah let out a small scream as her orgasm hit, panting loudly, she moved faster and harder as Tsiriu kissed her.

Now moving his own legs, he used his knees and hips to thrust himself into her more, burying himself deeper and deeper, making sure to cause as many ripples of pleasure inside her soaked entrance as he could.

Karrah screamed even louder and collapsed against Tsiriu, quivering and sweating.

"Do you want to stop, my little flower?" Tsiriu said, his mysterious tone coming back, though now laden with slight lust.

"N-no," Karrah gasped out, still trembling, "y-you.. Haven't yet..."

"Alright, let's see if I can give you the pleasure you gave to me." He said, sliding himself teasingly slowly out of her.

Karrah moaned loudly, and whispered into Tsiriu's ear "I love you,"

"And I love you Karrah." Tsiriu said as he slid back down her body. "Ready?" He said, his head resting on her groin.

Karrah shook her head and pulled him back up, "Don't stop," she murmured, pressing her groin against his, "I want you to... I want you to cum too."

"Don't worry Karrah, I will." He whispered, sliding back down. "I just want to make this as great for you, as you made the first time for me." He said, his finger gently caressing her lower 'lips'.

Karrah moaned as his fingers sent waves of pleasure all up and down her sensitive body.

Tsiriu's fingers suddenly stopped, resting on the crease of her groin and legs. His face edged slowly towards Karrah's sacred spot, licking his lips once along the way.

Karrah shivered as she felt his hot breath against the cold night. Moaning, she spread her legs apart a littler further.

Tsiriu's tongue slowly slid into her, cleaning her entrance while he took in her scent. Sweeter then any perfume to him, he smiled as he felt her muscles in her lower body tighten, from her stomach to her curling toes.

Karrah arched her back as her orgasm started to build again, moaning, she quietly gripped the blanket tightly in her fists

Tsiriu's tongue went in, deeper and deeper, as the tip constantly rubbed the soft, wet flesh. His own 'sacred place' slowly started to tighten up as well, and he knew that he might have to hurry it up a little.

Karrah gave a little scream, clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white, she squeezed her eyes shut.

Feeling her inner muscles tighten greatly, Tsiriu, using the grace that he gained through using his extremely light weapons, quickly took his tongue out of Karrah, sliding his pulsing member deep into her, moaning loudly as his member was spent for the second time that night.

Karrah collapsed upon the ground as her orgasm hit and the rest of her energy was spent. Panting heavily, she looked up at Tsiriu.

Tsiriu had collapsed just as she did, now rolling so that he'd be able to kiss her. "Did I do a good job?" Tsiriu asked, barely able to keep awake from all the exertion.

Karrah moaned softly in his ear and whispered "Yes you did,"

"I'm glad, little flower." Tsiriu said, his eyes no longer able to stay open. "I've exhausted myself..." He added, lying next to Karrah on the cold stone next to the waterfall.

Karrah closed her eyes and nuzzled Tsiriu, "You've exhausted me too,"

"Well, might as well take a nap." His voice trailed off as he fell asleep next to the lithe girl.

Karrah smiled and pulled the blanket over her and Tsiriu's sleeping form. Within moments, she was asleep.


End file.
